"EU reacted clearly to Rama's statement"

"EU reacted clearly to Rama's statement"

BRUSSELS -- European Commission officials consider EU's reaction to Albanian PM Edi Rama's statements to be "very clear and unambiguous."

This is what the Beta news agency was told on Thursday in Brussels when it asked for comment on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's assessment that EU's reaction was lukewarm.

Rama said on Monday that Kosovo and Albania would unite "either as part of the EU or the classic way." An EC spokesperson issued a statement saying that "everyone in the Western Balkans, including Albania and Kosovo" accept the obligation of good neighborliness, cooperation and reconciliation on the path towards the EU, and that "in this context all provocative statements are particularly unacceptable."

Asked whether Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, "which has already stalled," may be jeopardized by Rama's statements supported by Kosovo's Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci, the agency' sources in the European Commission said that "Thaci did not support Rama's statement," and stressed that the Commission "does not consider the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue stalled as it continues with the work of experts."

According to the diplomatic sources in Brussels, a new round of dialogue could be held "on the margins of the meeting of prime ministers of Western Balkans countries on April 21 in Brussels," which will be "a continuation of the recent similar meeting in Pristina, where attention was devoted to the construction of key infrastructure in the region with EU's pledged support worth one billion euros."

Beta reported it was told that "what has been agreed in the dialogue must first be implemented," while the issue of the formation of a community of Serb municipalities "will...