Minister Xhaçka receives her Kosovo counterpart: Support on the path toward membership in NATO

: Published: Tuesday, 26 September 2017 14:41

Minister of Defense, Olta Xhaçka received in an official visit today, the newly elected Minister of Kosovo Security Force, Rrustem Berisha and the delegation accompanying him. At the bilateral meeting, Minister Xhaçka congratulated her counterpart for the new assignment and assured that Minister Berisha would be a professional advocate of Kosovo's aspirations for the Euro-Atlantic integration.

"Kosovo's integration is a common destination, and the same it is even for all the Balkan countries. I assure you that we are always ready to intensify the cooperation between the two countries and to share Albanian experience regarding its membership in NATO with the Government of Kosovo", - said Minister Xhaçka during the meeting between the two delegations.

Minister of Kosovo Security Force (KSF) underlined that for Kosovo, Albania is the most powerful Ally on its path towards North Atlantic Organization membership, and not only.

"The current priority of the KSF is to accelerate its transformation into the Armed Forces. And let me point also out here in Tirana, that the formation of the Armed Forces is not inconsistent with the Serbian minorities, but on the contrary, it is for the benefit of all Kosovo citizens", - said Minister Berisha.

Minister Berisha signed in the guest book, and the two delegations had a bilateral meeting. Later on the two counterparts, Xhaçka and Berisha appeared in a press statement, the focus of which was the continuation of cooperation and support in both political and technical level.

"We believe that professionalism and devotion of the KSF in fulfilling the obligations which the path towards NATO integration imposes will be rewarded very soon. I assured Minister Berisha that as always, our cooperation will continue at an intensive pace. There is an almost complete implementation, according to time reference of the Cooperation Plan of 2017; meanwhile our staffs are working on the draft plan for 2018." - said Minister Xhaçka, among others.

After the meeting in the Ministry of Defense, the Kosovo delegation, accompanied by the Deputy Minister Petro Koçi attended an indicative lesson on training tactics for participating in missions, at the Battalion of Special Forces in Zall-Herr.

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Press statement by the Defense Minister Olta Xhaçka:

I feel honored today to have invited to the Ministry of Defense of Albanian Republic, Mr. Rustem Berisha, Minister of the Kosovo Security Force and the delegation accompanying him. This meeting was an excellent opportunity to congratulate Mr. Berisha for the new duty as the leadership of Ministry of Security Force of Kosovo. I am convinced that Mr. Minister, but also the new government of the Republic of Kosovo, led by Mr. Haradinaj, will proceed with their excellent job to the country's integration into Euro-Atlantic structures.

I assured the Minister that our maximum support will continue to be concrete in both political and technical terms. All the Albania's experience on the road to full NATO integration will continuously be followed by professionalism and goodwill for our brothers of Kosovo.

The world's largest military Alliance, a union of values and efforts to protect our people lives, liberty and democracy, has a clear priority for the "open door" policy of all Western Balkan countries.

Full integration of the Balkans into NATO means more security, more stability, more democracy, not only for our countries, but also for the Alliance as a whole. Moreover, integration is a common dream of Balkan people, who deserve to be rewarded for their sacrifices. I expressed to Minister, my conviction that the Republic of Kosovo, with the unsparing assistance of the Allied and Partner countries, in accordance with its internal legislation, will realize the transformation of Kosovo Security Force into its Armed Forces. We believe that professionalism and devotion of KSF in fulfilling the obligations that the path toward NATO integration imposes will be rewarded very soon.

I assured Minister Berisha that, as always, our cooperation will continue at an intensive pace. There is an almost complete implementation, according to time reference of the Cooperation Plan of 2017; meanwhile our staffs are working on the draft plan for 2018.

Once again, Mr. Minister, thank you for being here.

Congratulations on your new job and further success in your job!

Press statement of the Minister for the Kosovo Security Force Rrustem Berisha:

Dear Mrs. Minister, Olta Xhaçka,

Dear journalists,

First, let me congratulate the new Defence Minister, Mrs. Xhaçka and wish her success in her new work and duty. It is an extremely challenging and responsible duty. Today we were on an official visit at the Ministry of Defence of the Albanian Republic. The character of this visit was more informative and with the purpose that everyone should expand cooperation between the Ministry of KSF and Ministry of Defence, and it is in the frame of the regional efforts to increase cooperation among all countries in the region.

The Republic of Kosovo aims to promote good neighborly relations with all the countries of the region. Not only to minimize the threats, but also to overcome the legacy of the past because we know that in this region we have had an unfortunate legacy and we hope that we will find the way, strength and forms to overcome all those barriers, which could endanger the internal security, regional security and global security.

I informed the Minister that one of the priorities of the government of Kosovo Republic is also strengthening the security institutions. Within its framework is also the transformation of the Security Force into the Armed Forces of Kosovo.

I also informed the Minister about our efforts to change the internal and external image of the state of Kosovo, for the fact that we do not want to be recognized as a country that only consumes security which is a burden to the international community, but in the future, we want to contribute to security and be a reliable partner in the region and beyond.

We intend to further intensify the cooperation we have previously had between the Ministry of KSF and the Ministry of Defense. So far we have had excellent cooperation in the field of education, exercises, especially in trainings and in various courses, from basic to advanced ones. We expect from the Ministry of Defense to have the help and support for the membership not only in the regional initiatives, but also in NATO's integration. We believe that after this meeting, Minister Xhaçka will plan a visit to Kosovo in her agenda, especially in the Ministry of the Kosovo Security Force.

Congratulations Mrs. Xhaçka, and success in your new duty!