Serbian PM favors dialogue after slight by Abanian PM

Serbian Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic defended his reaction in front of reporters on Tuesday - advocating the merits of dialogue - to what Serbs considered to be a provocation by the Albanian PM the previous day. 

The spat came on Monday after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama offended his hosts after arriving on an official high-level visit - the first since former Albanian President Enver Hoxha met Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito in 1947 - and declaring in Belgrade: "The independence of Kosovo is a reality."

"If someone thinks I should have taken an anchor and hit [Rama] yesterday, this is not a serious policy to me," said Vucic on Tuesday. "The government I am leading wants to establish normal relations."

On Monday, Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic had said: "I will not allow anyone to humiliate Serbia in Belgrade."

Belgrade continues to regard the state of Kosovo - which declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008 - as its Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, while recognizing the Republic's governance over the territory.

Kosovo has long been ethnically divided by tensions between its Albanian and Serb populations which have led to conflict including the 1999 Kosovo War.

However, Vucic said on Tuesday that, despite the incident, he would continue talks with his Albanian counterpart and would also pay an official visit to the Albanian capital of Tirana at a later date.

Meanwhile Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama visited the Serbian city of Presevo, where Albanians represent the majority of the population, on Tuesday during the second of his two-day official trip to Serbia.

Anadolu Agency