On a visit to Pristina the Albania Foreign Minister and the Macedonian Prime Minister have reaffirmed their support for Kosova’s independence.

Below is an article written by Blerta Foniqi- Kabashi published by the Southeast Times:

Albania's Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha called for peace, stability and restraint in Kosovo, as he wrapped up a two-day visit to Pristina on Friday (May 18th). Basha, who met with the Kosovo Parliament Speaker Kolj Berisha on the second day of his trip, stressed the importance of maintaining calm at this decisive moment in the status settlement process.

Basha also reiterated his country's full support for former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari's plan for supervised independence of Kosovo and said Tirana is ready to co-operate with the United States and the EU in the efforts to preserve stability in the region.

"Tirana supports the independence of Kosovo, and we [urge] the United States and the EU to adopt the resolution as soon as possible," Basha said after meeting with UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker.

Meanwhile, Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, visiting Pristina for the first time Thursday [17 May 2007], said that demarcation of the border between Kosovo and Macedonia will be sorted after the status issue is resolved. "We have confirmed our support of Ahtisaari's plan, and we believe that immediately after the status resolution of Kosovo, it will begin the implantation of demarcation in the border. We believe that co-operation between two countries will be improved further in the future." Ruecker said that Gruevski and his government are very constructive regarding the issues of Kosovo.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu told Gruevski that Kosovo's final status will be resolved soon, which would create conditions that ease relations in the region.

Responding to a question on whether Macedonia, which has good relations with Serbia, can influence Serbian authorities to accept Ahtisaari's plan, Gruevski said he hopes that the new Serbian government will find a way to support a solution to this issue, without causing any turbulence in the region.

"The support of Macedonia for Ahtisaari's plan will help Kosovo [on a path towards] integration in EU and NATO, in order for the entire region to be ready for Europe," Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku said.