Kosovo intends to organize referendum on merging with Albania
Nait Hasani, an official of the Democratic Party of Kosovo of future prime minister Hashim Thaci, which won the majority of votes in the last parliamentary election, announced the possibility of organizing a referendum on merging Kosovo with Albania.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, December 21, 2007
"First we must acquire supervised independence, i.e. the one proposed by Ahtisaari. But it is well known that the inhabitants of Kosovo and Albanians are one nation, who want to live in one state. We have a common language, tradition and religion, yet Kosovo has been separate from Albania," Hasani said in an interview with the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.
Hasani added that if the people wanted a referendum on merging with Albania, then Pristina was obliged to call one. He stressed that Pristina was ready to put the declaration of independence on hold until May 2008, but hoped that it would be able to do so much earlier.
Merging Kosovo with Albania or any other state or territory is contrary to the principles of the Contact Group for Kosovo.
This is one of the strongest statements by a top politician in Pristina on the intention to create a "greater Albanian state".
