Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Ceku says Macedonia's partition impossible

Macedonia's division is not possible, an independent Kosovo will not harm anybody including Macedonia, Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku said.

Ceku, along with other senior officials from the countries in the region, attends a meeting of the Contact Group on Kosovo.

"Independent Kosovo will pose no threat to security or territorial integrity of the countries in the region, including Macedonia. The policy of independent Kosovo towards Macedonia will be the same as toward all neighboring countries. We will build a strategic partnership in our co-operation and in the general commitment to integrating into Europe," Ceku said.

He underscored Kosovo's pledges for furthering co-operation in fields spanning economy, security, culture, including the common projects on approximation to Europe.

Asked whether Macedonia's division is possible, Ceku said 'No'. "There will be no division for sure. The countries in the region will become European countries with European standards and European perspective. This means that ethnic minorities should be entitled the same rights as those in majority, the majority should assume responsibility for the situation relating the minority. In such case, the political agenda will be free of any other alliances."

He didn't deny the existence of structures or individuals in Kosovo who support the idea of Greater Albania.

"I can't rule out the existence of such individuals. This idea is still present but it fades away day by day. Those who support this idea are irrelevant personalities," Kosovo's PM said. "Why to look toward south, toward Tirana? We look toward Brussels."

In an interview for Bulgarian news agency Bgnes, Ceku appears confident of Kosovo's capacity to tackle organized crime given its will to deal with this issue.

He also appeared confident that Islamic fundamentalism is not a theme in Kosovo, as there are no indications that such idea enjoys support by the people.

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