Difficult compromises are what need to be made on the path to inclusion in the Partnership for Peace program, said NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska. In an interview for KOHA, she reiterated that security in Kosovo and the Western Balkans region carries great weight and importance for the North Atlantic Alliance. She also spoke about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue as well as the military agreement signed between Kosovo, Croatia and Albania.
NATO Deputy Secretary General, Radmila Shekerinska, has assessed that Kosovo’s path to becoming part of the Alliance’s Partnership for Peace program requires difficult compromises.
In an interview with KOHA, she mentioned the example of her country, North Macedonia, which became part of the NATO military-political Alliance in March 2020.
Although North Macedonia has been forced to change its name and constitution for this goal, Shekerinska stressed that the compromises have been worth it.
“If you know the goal, if you know what the interest of your country and people is, and if you focus on this goal, sometimes compromises are painful but worth it… So, yes, political compromises are costly, they are costly for us as politicians but they are always beneficial for the citizens and I think the message we sent is that the state is more important than us,” said Shekerinska.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mark Rutte also spoke about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, facilitated by the European Union.
In this regard, she expressed the expectation that both Kosovo and Serbia will demonstrate political will for progress.
“There are no magic solutions, no breakthroughs that NATO or the EU can offer. There must be political will in both Belgrade and Pristina for progress. We have appreciated the progress that has been achieved in the past but we believe that now we must move forward and this is what we hear is the expectation from the EU,” said Shekerinska.
As an expectation from Serbia, it has mentioned the need for accountability regarding the attack in Banjska and the one in Zvecan on KFOR, in which over 90 members of the NATO mission in Kosovo were injured.
And as a guarantee of KFOR’s continued commitment, she highlighted the recent visit of Secretary Rutte and the entire North Atlantic Council team to Kosovo.
Deputy Secretary General Shekerinska has qualified the NATO mission in Kosovo as evidence that the Western Balkans region has great importance and weight for the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.
You can watch the full interview with NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska on Monday on the “60 Minutes” show on KTV.
