Avdullah Hoti, former Prime Minister of Kosovo and current Member of Parliament from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), shared his speech from the European Parliament during the joint meeting of the EU-Kosovo Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee.
In his speech, Hoti emphasized that dialogue and good neighborly relations are European values, and that there is no alternative to the implementation of European standards for these principles. He stressed that the European integration of the Western Balkans relies on fostering good neighborly relations, which can only be achieved through full cooperation and respect among all parties involved.
However, Hoti also pointed out three actions by Serbia that have gone unpunished by the European Union. These actions, according to Hoti, are:
- Involvement of Serbian state institutions in continuous terrorist attacks in northern Kosovo, which is evident from the lack of action against individuals clearly implicated in these attacks.
- Ongoing pressure by Serbia on the Serbian community in Kosovo to prevent integration into Kosovo’s state institutions.
- Continuous removal of addresses from the civil registry for Albanians in the Preševo Valley.
Hoti also criticized the dialogue process between Kosovo and Serbia over the last four years, stating that it has yielded no concrete results. He highlighted the lack of transparency in the process, as agreements reached behind closed doors were often denied once made public. This approach, he noted, was consistent on both the Serbian and, more recently, the Kosovo side.
Hoti underlined that dialogue should focus on the ultimate issue between the two countries: mutual recognition. He emphasized that without addressing this core problem, it is impossible to normalize relations. He called for the dialogue to be reformulated under new leadership within the EU institutions, aiming for a final agreement on mutual recognition.
He concluded that the ongoing exclusion of the Western Balkans from the EU, without clarity on the timeline for integration, contributes to economic and demographic collapse in the region, which could result in a vicious cycle of political and economic instability.
