Kosovo has rejected the Open Balkans initiative because it has not been treated as an equal party, said today Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani during a forum organized by the Center for European Perspective in Slovenia.

“Kosovo is a country but has not been invited as such in the Open Balkans. We are for the Process of Berlin because it makes us closer to the European Union. The Open Balkans initiative is supported by Russia”, said President Osmani. “The expansion of the Russian hegemony is a danger to the stability in the Western Balkans. Serbia has taken Russia’s side and it can destabilize the region. I hate neither Serbia nor Serbians, but I cannot accept the notion of equality between the aggressor and the victim. They performed genocide in Kosovo, I and many others were forced away from our homes despite their denial of it”.

Meanwhile, Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti, speaking in the panel for the Southeastern Europe in Greece, said the Process of Berlin is the only initiative that will lead the Western Balkans towards EU.

Kosovo leaders have opposed the idea of the Open Balkans as an initiative of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Albanian Premier Edi Rama. Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia Herzegovina have yet to decide on the project because it is seen as a parallel structure of the Berlin Process, ideated and supported by EU.