well, i believe in the republic of kosovo and thanks to republic of kosovo, i m prime minister of kosovo, here to serve republic of kosovo, but when we declared independence over 13 years ago, we did not do that in contrast to albania, but as an expression of liberation from serbia, and liberation from serbia made possible for us as albanians to restore our dignity and our civic and human rights. now, towards a serb of kosovo, i m not first of all albanian, i m citizen of the republic. but historically, whenever serbia attacked kosovo, then albanians always united because serbia was a small imperialistic power, very closely linked with moscow and in our region, it was the most powerful one in the last century and a half. that s why albanian identity is also very strong, not only because of language.
thaci currently faces charges. you have suggested you do not accept the legitimacy of this court, whereas your own president, who we ve had on hardtalk, she clearly does accept the legitimacy of that court, so here s your chance, with me, right now, to say that you ve changed your mind and you do accept the special court in the hague. many think that i have found as legacy of my predecessors, i do not like. but it s a fait accompli, there s nothing i can do about it. so, specialist chambers, they are not very transparent justice systems and they have not shown that they are multi ethnic. so, they have been taking only kla leaders who are albanians and as if no one else did crimes here war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. but i think that time will show that truth in kosovo demands justice, and that is that serbia is the one who should be punished.
my predecessors, i do not like. but it s a fait accompli, there s nothing i can do about it. so, specialist chambers, they are not very transparent justice systems and they have not shown that they are multi ethnic. so, they have been taking only kla leaders who are albanians and as if no one else did crimes here war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. but i think that time will show that truth in kosovo demands justice, and that is that serbia is the one who should be punished. unfortunately, until now, with specialist chambers, we haven t seen the right pace to satisfy the victims in kosovo. five years ago, big mistakes were done but i have to live with them, unfortunately. i m not sure you ve actually answered my question, mr prime minister, it s quite a simple one.
where we are going to discuss the status of future relations because the status of kosovo is something that has been sealed with icg opinion on 22nd ofjuly 2010 which says that kosovo s declaration of independence did not violate international law. so good relations with serbia will help, but they are not top priority. let me just stop you for a second, prime minister. you say you do want better relations with serbia, but isn t the truth that the serbian president, mr vucic, when he last spoke with you, he said, you know what, i thought that relations with kosovo couldn t get any worse but i now realise they can always get worse. the serbs see you as a troublemaker, they point to the fact that you just demanded, what, a month ago, that all serbs crossing the border into kosovo change their license plates. that was just regarded
Transcripts for BBCNEWS HARDtalk 20211105 04:32:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.