Rama: We hope that another war will not be necessary for BiH to obtain candidate status

The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, assessed yesterday that the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet received the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union shows that "instead of vision, the EU is driven by the inertia of events."

Rama said in an interview for "Novi Magazin" that he fully supports the EU's decision to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, and that he does not understand why such a decision was not made in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We hope that another war will not be necessary for Bosnia and Herzegovina to receive candidate status," said Rama.

He added that he would like the EU to follow the vision of its founders towards the "full implementation" of the European project, which includes the "full integration of the Western Balkans".

Rama assessed that Serbia's most serious problem for a long period of time is that it has not recognized Kosovo as an independent state, and believes that it will have to do so for the sake of its future.

"At some point, Serbia will have to recognize Kosovo and get rid of the burden that should not undermine the bright future of your country for too long. I understand the difficulties in solving such a burning issue, but Kosovo is gone forever," said Rama.

He assessed that there is "a lot of reluctance" in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on both sides and that reconciliation is impossible without a "painful and patient process of dialogue".

Rama assessed that Serbia's refusal to join the EU sanctions against Russia due to the attack on Ukraine "will not be good", and added that this does not mean that Serbia supports Russian aggression, because "three times in a row it joined the ranks of the democratic world by voting against Russia in United Nations".