"Sofia has made an extremely important contribution at every stage of peace-building in the region and in Kosovo," Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said.
She stressed at a press conference with her Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev that some European Union countries were willing to abuse the punitive measures imposed on Kosovo in June this year to "put conditions" on the country on quite other issues, including the issue of the Serb-majority Association of Municipalities, the Albanian Post reported.
Osmani stressed that this is exactly the approach that the EU summit with the Western Balkans held a few weeks ago opposed.
She said that given the fragile security situation in the region and beyond, it was imperative that Kosovo take steps towards NATO membership.
"Only the membership of all Western Balkan countries in NATO will have a long-term effect on peace and stability in our entire region," she said.
Speaking about relations between Kosovo and Bulgaria, Osmani stressed that Sofia has made a crucial contribution at every stage of peace-building in the region and in Kosovo.
"We see Bulgaria as a friendly country, as a partner and an ally, so we are ready and eager for positive developments in various areas of our bilateral partnership, such as the commitment to KFOR, the recognition of Kosovo's independence, support for Kosovo in the International Court of Justice and our membership in international organisations, and continued support for our country's Euro-Atlantic integration," she added. / BGNES
