Brnabic: I do not know why Rama called for sanctions against Serbia

TIRANA - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic said in Tirana on Monday she did not know why Albanian PM Edi Rama had called for imposing sanctions against Serbia, and noted the move was not in line with good-neighbourly relations or the Open Balkan initiative.

Responding to remarks by reporters that she had had a cold and protocolar greeting with Rama before a Berlin Process summit in the Albanian capital, Brnabic said that was how she felt and that there was no way for her to have a more cordial meeting with someone who had called for sanctions against Serbia.

"I hope we will discuss that further today, and we talked a little about clarifying that. We want the best possible relations with Albania, as well as with everyone in the region. You are never just a politician, sometimes you are a human being, too. And that is how I feel. I am not glad about that and I do not know why he did that, it makes absolutely no sense and is not in line with good-neighbourly relations or what we are doing as part of the Open Balkan initiative," Brnabic said, noting that Serbia had not done anything that would warrant calls for sanctions against it.

She said the summit had addressed the situation in Kosovo-Metohija and the September 24 events in Banjska, and added that Serbs did not have the fundamental living conditions in Kosovo-Metohija and that their position was not a political but a humanitarian issue.

When asked if she had been under pressure over the events in Banjska, she said there had been no pressure but that the incident, as well as the situation in Kosovo-Metohija, had been discussed.

She also noted that all European officials in attendance expressed support to the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities in the presence of Pristina's PM Albin Kurti.