Minister Çitaku holds her speech on ‘ The future of Kosovo and culture of dialogue’ Conference

Honourable Rector of the University of Pristina, Professor Ibrahim Gashi,

Dear panelists,
Dear participants,

To speak about the dialogue culture and the future of Kosovo, it is inevitably linked to the importance of the dialogue as an indispensable tool for a European future of our country. I am saying this because I deeply believe that without a dialogue culture we cannot have a European future either. The topic of the conference that you have chosen is very interesting and I as a Minister of European Integration am convinced that through the dialogue as a tool for solving problems, we will bring Kosovo into EU.

In addition to this, I believe, that dialogue culture constitutes the most important political emancipation which will bring Kosovo closer to a model of development and participatory democracy. Dialogue is a fundamental value of a democratic society by means of which all the challenges and problems are discussed and is aimed to provide consensus solutions, this is also one of the main values of the EU.

We cannot provide the socio-economic development without having a genuine political, social, ideological, gender, religious dialogue or even a dialogue between generations.

The dialogue is a deliberate and concentrated conversation, equality and civilized platform on which those who change may listen and speak unanimously.  In a dialogue, we seek to put aside, fear, prejudices and the need to win. Through a dialogue we provide time to listen to the voices other and opportunities.
Dialogue may involve tensions and paradoxes, and by doing so new collective ideas arise. The European Union is the first political entity in the history of humanity that in its fundamentals has the promotion of dialogue rather than conflict as means for solving problems.

Almost in all cases, EU is not only a facilitator of a dialogue but also it has its means for the achievement of organizational goals, as the European Union itself is founded on the premises of dialogue. It was the dialogue platform between Germany and France that replaced three brutal wars that these two countries have been involved in, and which resulted with loss of many lives, in less than 100 years. It is the dialogue between large countries and small countries that allows the voice of small countries to be heard by larger ones.  It is the dialogue which demands respect for diversity by ensuring that European values such as freedom, equality, and human rights will be respected.

Sometimes the dialogue is hard; we all have seen long talks on financial support for Greece or number of years which were needed for the ratification of the Lisbon treaty. But however, is achievable.

Dear participants,

As the Minister of European Integration, I see Kosovo’s interest of toward EU,  exactly at the dialogue, not military power of countries, because the European Union does not base its power on military strength but at the dialogue as a tool for overcoming the problems:  after over a decade or better to say a century when Albanians were brutalized by different regimes, when the loss of lives has been a unceasing vicious circle, which has caused hardship to our people, we are now living in a time where none of the neighboring countries can replace the dialogue with violence. This has been ensured in recent years when the entire Balkans was committed to the EU’s fundamental principles such as; freedom, security, equality, and human rights.

Finally, I would like to say that for our parents’ and grandparents’ generation, EU accession project means that our security will always be preserved by healthy principals of European Union.