Thaci’s Pan-Albania Union Plea Scorned as Populism

On Monday, commemorating a battle between Serbian forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, in Pashtrik, Thaci went further by asking the Kosovo and Albania parliaments to take action.

"New circumstances are being created, and the best solution would be that two parliaments, of Kosovo and Albania, approve the statements of people's wish to live in a single state," he said.

Reviving an option that has historically been a "dream" for many Albanians has put Thaci back in the limelight of TV debates in Kosovo and Albania.

Thaci has described unification as a natural reaction to the failure of the European Union integration process, which he says has left Kosovo unfairly isolated.

"I support it as an alternative to the isolation that the EU is doing to Kosovo," Thaçi said on Thursday at a debate with Prishtina and Tirana analysts.

"We cannot be treated as second-class people. So I definitely see a better future for the unification of Albanians. It is now a golden moment for national unification …  I am ready to take over the flag for this campaign."

Kosovo PM wants more cooperation first:

Ramush Haradinaj, gestures after he was elected the new Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo in Pristina. Photo: EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

Since last summer, when he first presented the idea of border corrections with Serbia as a way to reach a final settlement with Belgrade, Thaci has been under constant fire from his opponents.

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, one of the strongest opponents of border correction, is not convinced about the prospect of instant unification with Albania, either.

"This is a century-long project but, in this phase I think the most important thing is to deepen cooperation between Kosovo and...