Slovenia's Pahor visits Kosovo
09/03/2010
Talks focused on ironing out details of an upcoming summit being hosted by Slovenia.
By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 09/03/10
 Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor (left) holds a joint press conference with Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci in Pristina on Monday (March 8th). [Laura Hasani] |
Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor was in Pristina on Monday (March 8th) to meet with his Kosovo counterpart, Hashim Thaci. Topping their agenda was the upcoming Brdo summit of EU and regional leaders.
In a statement echoing US President John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech, Pahor said "This is a case where the region's countries can present what they can offer to the European Union, not only what European Union can do for them."
The conference -- set for March 20th at the Brdo castle in the Upper Carniola region of Kranj -- has been overshadowed by friction between Serbia and Kosovo over whether the Pristina delegation will be seated as representing an independent state.
Pahor stressed that there are two weeks left to smooth over "technical" problems for a successful conference and said most are more important than the relationship between Serbia and Kosovo.
"President Tadic [of Serbia] and [Kosovo] Prime Minister Thaci are not the only problem we have," said Pahor. "We would like to have a special statement on the European perspective of the Western Balkans. Who can [prepare such a document] better than us? We can do this job."
Thaci said that Kosovo will be present at the conference and meet its commitments to further regional co-operation "but also for the Euro-Atlantic perspective", reiterating that NATO and EU membership are top priorities for Kosovo.
Neither official took questions from reporters.
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