Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has responded to the latest remarks by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić regarding the Iber River, telling him that the river “will continue to flow according to geography, not folklore.”
Rama stressed that Kosovo is a state in its own right and that Kosovo’s Albanians have their own institutions and the right to determine their future.
“Kosovo is a state in its own right. Kosovo Albanians are exactly that: Kosovo Albanians. They have their own Republic, their own institutions, and the right to determine their own future. We will always stand in support of that right,” the prime minister said.
In one part of his response, Rama said that Serbia had lost Kosovo and that repeating the opposite does not change reality.
“Serbia lost Kosovo. Repeating that it did not lose it may perhaps turn defeat into victory in the geography of political imagination, but unfortunately, maps are less tolerant,” he wrote.
Rama added that the territory of the Republic of Kosovo is not Serbian territory and that the natural resources located there cannot be considered resources belonging to the Republic of Serbia.
Rama’s full statement:
“An interesting summer exchange between our foreign ministers. Although I was expecting a response regarding the Iber, somehow we travelled from hydrology to international law, made the obligatory stop at ‘Greater Albania,’ passed through ‘Kosovo and Metohija,’ and eventually arrived at the well-known museum of Serbian historical anxiety.
There is a particular piece of political folklore in Belgrade that seems immune to time: whenever Albania speaks about Kosovo, ‘Greater Albania’ must immediately be invoked, as if repeating it often enough might one day transform an old ghost into a relevant argument.
It will not.
Albania has absolutely no claim to Serbian territory and has no need to invent one. Nor do we need a ‘Greater Albania’ to stand alongside Kosovo.
Kosovo is a state in its own right. Kosovo Albanians are exactly that: Kosovo Albanians. They have their own Republic, their own institutions, and the right to determine their own future. We will always stand in support of that right.
Serbia lost Kosovo. Repeating that it did not lose it may perhaps turn defeat into victory in the geography of political imagination, but unfortunately, maps are less tolerant. The territory of the Republic of Kosovo is not Serbian territory, and the natural resources located within it are not resources of the Republic of Serbia. Our Serbian friends know this very well, including when we sit together at European tables.
So, let us return to the river.
The initial issue remains exactly where Albania left it: the Iber is a transboundary water system. Serbia is entirely free to manage the resources within its jurisdiction. What it cannot reasonably claim is that the potential consequences for another state somehow stop magically at the Serbian border.
That is precisely why international water law exists in the first place. Rivers have this rather inconvenient habit: they follow geography, not diplomatic arguments.
The situation of the Serbian community in Kosovo has also been mentioned. Their rights matter. Their security matters. Their property, language, and cultural and religious heritage must be protected. Albania has never had any difficulty saying this, because it is simply what a democratic state owes to its citizens.
And here we perhaps arrive at the most amusing acrobatic manoeuvre in this exchange: warning Albania against ethnic expansionism while, in the same statement, referring to the territory of another sovereign state as though it were still Serbian territory. That is quite a difficult circle to square.
Perhaps this works within Serbia’s political bubble. Outside it, the geometry becomes less forgiving. And yes, I could not agree more that the future of our region should be one in which borders gradually lose their power to divide us. Absolutely.
But there is a small prerequisite before borders can become less important: we must accept those that already exist. The genius of the European project was precisely to separate national identity from the thirst for territory.
Kosovo Albanians are Kosovo Albanians. Albania will stand alongside them and the Republic of Kosovo because we share history, language, families, and a common future—but above all because a free, democratic, and secure Kosovo is a legitimate European state and an indispensable part of the stability of our region.
There is nothing secret about this position. There never has been. No secret maps. No hidden borders. No ‘Greater’ anything is necessary.
Therefore, Albania’s position will remain exactly the same, both publicly and privately: we respect Serbia, we want good-neighbourly relations with Serbia, and we want the entire region to be part of Europe—including, without question, Serbia.
But good-neighbourly relations cannot mean asking all of Serbia’s neighbours to permanently relocate themselves into Serbia’s version of history.
The Balkans have already paid far too high a price in blood and wasted time for this kind of accommodation.
Meanwhile, the Iber, blissfully unaware of all our historical cartography, will continue to flow according to geography, not folklore.”
