Kosovo's president calls for EU accession

Berlin - The President of Kosovo, Fatimir Sejdiu, petitioned Thursday for his country to become a European Union member and said this would provide a strong incentive for reforms.

"Kosovo needs a signpost to know it has to complete its tasks, so that Kosovo knows where we stand today, where we will be tomorrow and what we need to do the day after tomorrow to complete this task," Sejdiu said during a speech in the German capital.

"It would not be good if Kosovo became an excluded oasis or a black spot in this regard," he added, and called for support and closer cooperation in Kosovo's EU accession process.

The president was speaking about his country's European and Atlantic perspectives two years after independence at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a political thinktank with close links to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.

He thanked Germany for recognizing Kosovo's independence, and hoped countries such as Germany would set an example to those that had not yet done so.

Sejdiu also called upon the United Nations' UNMIK mission to withdraw from Kosovo, since it had successfully reached its goal of enabling the country to found democratic institutions.

"Our demand is for this mandate to be concluded," the president said, adding, "We have never considered UNMIK to be an enemy - they are an international presence that has always played a role."

A total of 66 countries recognize Kosovo as an independent state. Within the European Union, the country's independence is currently not recognized by five state, including Spain.

During his three-day visit to Berlin, Sejdiu also met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Horst Koehler and the head of the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, Norbert Lammert.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/322353,kosovos-president-calls-for-euaccession.html.