Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dačić’s statement that Serbia’s flag “will fly over Prizren sooner or later” has provoked waves of immediate reactions.
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The remark has been considered an open threat directed at Kosovo, reviving Belgrade’s old territorial claims and raising fears for peace in the region. When one speaks of a “flying flag” over a city of an independent state, it is essentially a warning of military attack.
Former Deputy Interior Minister Valdet Hoxha, in a statement for “Bota sot,” called on Serbia to abandon its hegemonic policy and finally recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty and borders.
According to him, Dačić’s threats pose a significant risk to regional security, but he emphasizes that any attempt to touch Kosovo will be met with a response from the security institutions and international allies.
“Serbia should have long moved past the era of hegemonic dreams of the 1990s – those received their deserved response from the KLA, NATO and international partners. Kosovo today is an independent and sovereign state, with strong institutions and KFOR on its territory, therefore any touch of its integrity will be answered with determination by our security structures and allies,” declared Hoxha.
“Dačić’s warmongering rhetoric and territorial threats, and those of others in Belgrade, are not simply populist games for domestic voters – they constitute a direct risk to the sovereignty, territoriality and peace of the Republic of Kosovo, and beyond,” he added.
This language shows, according to him, that Serbia remains hostage to its expansionist doctrine, does not accept the geopolitical reality and tries to destabilize the Western Balkans by promoting the project of a “Greater Serbia.”
Hoxha demanded that Kosovo not stop at denunciations, but move forward with strategic steps to strengthen security, deepening cooperation with Albania and other regional partners.
At the same time, he proposed that NATO keep KFOR at optimal numbers, while Kosovo’s institutions should intensify diplomacy to inform allies about Serbia’s destabilizing risk.
“In the face of this aggressive language, Kosovo must not remain at declarations that Serbia has never given up its war rhetoric. It must continuously establish strategies for strengthening security mechanisms, for advancing cooperative policies with partners and for regional cooperation in the field of security, implementing the ‘Smart Defence’ concept,” emphasized Hoxha.
“The coordination of joint defense strategies between Kosovo and Albania is an obligation of the time and unrivaled in this security climate in the region,” he assessed.
“At the same time, Kosovo’s institutions should formally request that NATO keep KFOR at optimal levels and conduct diplomatic lobbying to expose to the world the Serbian scenarios for destabilizing the Western Balkans,” concluded Hoxha.
