Political analyst Ben Andoni has said that with the joint idea of the Albanian Prime Minister and the Serbian President for a “realistic path towards the European Union”, Serbia avoids the Kosovo issue on its path to European integration.
On Friday, Prime Minister Edi Rama and Albanian President Aleksandar Vučić, in an opinion piece in the German newspaper “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, called for their countries to be admitted to the European single market and the Schengen area. They stopped short of insisting on full EU membership, arguing that they understand member states’ doubts about whether the EU can function effectively with more members.
Andoni said on KTV’s “Interaktiv” that while Albania has opened integration chapters faster, Serbia has lagged behind for a long time. He described this as a handicap. He saw the joint letter as a joining of paths “of two personalities who are increasingly autocratic.”
“Vučić has already openly shown it, and the same is happening with Rama. His power is complete and great. I think that uniting their two paths in a way is a way to avoid their problems. Serbia avoids Kosovo, because it is obliged that if it is going to open Chapter 35, everything is connected to Kosovo,” he said.
According to him, Rama has gone one step further than necessary with this letter.
“I see it as problematic because, as is true, we are two separate states and first and foremost we think about the problems of our states separately. On the other hand, Albania especially has a very great obligation to Kosovo in terms of its integration, especially the part of Serbia,” said Andoni, adding that Albania should never be on Serbia’s side in terms of integration, due to the Kosovo issue but also the lack of security.
According to Andoni, unity around this idea amnesties Serbia on the Kosovo issue.
“I think Rama has gone a step further than necessary for the sole reason that this step in a way amnesties Serbia. Albania must complete the path all alone, as Montenegro is doing, so we should not be surprised that in 2027-28 it will be the Western Balkan country to join,” he said.
According to him, Serbia has realized that the Kosovo issue is lost and that none of the rulers are willing to start closing chapters, especially those related to Kosovo.
“They are trying to take advantage of the part of Tirana that is becoming more European than it should be,” Andoni said.
Andoni assessed that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, could act indifferently on this issue or even turn Kosovo-Albania relations “backwards”, to, as he put it, “the last flourishing”.