An historic fence-building visit to Belgrade by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama took a disastrous turn Monday when the leaders of the two countries clashed publicly over Kosovo. All was going well as Rama and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic spoke to reporters about turning the page on stormy relations between the two Balkan neighbours until the Albanian mentioned Kosovo, calling on Serbia to recognise the "irreversible reality" of its independence.
Vucic became visibly angry, declaring: "I will not allow anybody to humiliate Serbia in Belgrade." Belgrade refuses to recognise the breakaway former Serbian province populated mostly by ethnic Albanians, which unilaterally declared its independence in 2008. "I had not expected a provocation from Mr Rama, that he would talk about Kosovo, because I don't know what he has to do with Kosovo," Vucic said.
The public spat erupted during the first visit by an Albanian prime minister to Serbia in 68 years - a trip which had to be delayed for three weeks after a heated diplomatic row in the wake of violence at a football match between the two countries. The match in Belgrade was abandoned in chaos on October 14 after a drone flew over the stadium carrying a flag which included a map of "Greater Albania" incorporating parts of Serbia.
Belgrade had initially accused Rama's brother, who watched the match from the VIP section, of having operated the drone, but the authorities went silent shortly afterwards and said a probe was under way. Rama told reporters the two sides had different positions over Kosovo "but there is only one reality - independent Kosovo is recognised by 108 states in the world".
"This is a reality that is irreversible and this reality should be respected," he said. But Vucic, obviously trying to keep his anger under control, shot back. In his address to the press, Rama also called for the rights of the ethnic Albanian minority in southern Serbia to be respected. The Albanian leader is due Tuesday to visit the Presevo Valley, a region in southern Serbia with a 60,000-strong ethnic Albanian community hit by poverty and high unemployment.
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