Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Sunday his country and Kosovo could one day have a single president as a "symbol of national unity" between Tirana and Pristina.
In a remark certain to anger Belgrade, Rama noted that the two neighbours, both predominantly ethnic Albanian, already share diplomatic missions around the world, adding: "Why not a single president, as a symbol of national unity?"
Rama was addressing Kosovo's parliament to mark the 10th anniversary of the country's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, a move recognised by more than 110 countries, though not by Belgrade or Moscow.
Serbia has repeatedly accused Tirana of wanting to build a "Greater Albania", an aspiration it denies.
Efforts to normalise ties between Belgrade and Pristina, begun in 2011, have stalled.
Rama said he saw a future in which "Albanians and Serbians will co-exist... like two countries with good neighbourly relations that are an integral part of the European Union."
The 1998-99 Kosovo war, the last of the conflicts that broke up Yugoslavia, claimed more than 13,000 lives including more than 11,000 ethnic Albanians of Kosovo.
The conflict ended after a three-month NATO air campaign that forced Serbs out of Kosovo and put it under UN protection.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Sunday his country and Kosovo could one day have a single president as a “symbol of national unity” between Tirana and Pristina.
In a remark certain to anger Belgrade, Rama noted that the two neighbours, both predominantly ethnic Albanian, already share diplomatic missions around the world, adding: “Why not a single president, as a symbol of national unity?”
Rama was addressing Kosovo’s parliament to mark the 10th anniversary of the country’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, a move recognised by more than 110 countries, though not by Belgrade or Moscow.
Serbia has repeatedly accused Tirana of wanting to build a “Greater Albania”, an aspiration it denies.
Efforts to normalise ties between Belgrade and Pristina, begun in 2011, have stalled.
Rama said he saw a future in which “Albanians and Serbians will co-exist… like two countries with good neighbourly relations that are an integral part of the European Union.”
The 1998-99 Kosovo war, the last of the conflicts that broke up Yugoslavia, claimed more than 13,000 lives including more than 11,000 ethnic Albanians of Kosovo.
The conflict ended after a three-month NATO air campaign that forced Serbs out of Kosovo and put it under UN protection.
