"I had high expectations", the former EU representative for Kosovo shows the three main points where the country should focus

The former representative of the European Union for Kosovo, Pieter Feith, on the 16th anniversary of Kosovo's Independence, said that he had greater expectations for the newest democratic state created in the Balkans.

He expressed that he expected the political elite to come together to create a long-term and medium-term plan for the progress of Kosovo, and not have so many disagreements between them.

According to him, now Kosovo will have to stop at three main points in order to move forward, these points have to do with political unity, the normalization of the situation after the war and keeping close to allies and friends.

"I had high expectations when, 16 years ago, independence was announced, which brought together all political forces and political leaders for a single goal. My first point is that, unfortunately, I don't see society and the political elite showing enough unity to move forward."

Feith has said that he does not see the political will to agree on the country's priorities.

"I think that the institutions in Kosovo are working well, but what I was hoping for is that the political leaders would come together and come up with a joint program for Kosovo in the long and medium term. The time spent in disagreement could have been time spent for the benefit of Kosovo", he stated in an interview for Euronews Albania.

"The second point is that the normalization of the situation after the war has not been fully achieved. I hope that with the Ohrid agreement last year and with the implementation of the program mediated by the European Union, positive steps will be taken. But there are two sides here, Kosovo is not the only one, the reality is that at this moment we are not looking at enough steps towards reconciliation and the independence of Kosovo is still contested by Serbia, this is a kind of disappointment for me".

"Thirdly, we have a dramatic context of geopolitical developments, with the influence coming from Russia with the war taking place in Ukraine that threatens all parties, which means that we must be clear about this, that Kosovo is not in top of the list of priorities of international offices as it was 16 years ago. We are also looking at what is happening in the United States. The elections are approaching and Donald Trump may come to power".

As for the sanctions against Kosovo, he said that they are unnecessary and should be removed, but "the Government of Kosovo must act".