Rama: Serbian government acted like fans. No turning back for visit

16/10/2014 00:00

International media keep reporting and analyzing what happened in
Belgrade. France24 says that this match has caused a political crisis
between Serbia and Albania, and each of the states claims that this
incident should be punished.

The program “Paris Direct” held a phone interview with Prime Minister Rama, and asked him if his brother, Olsi Rama, was involved in this incident and if he had any role in it.

“It is ridiculous that people focus on a flag which flew among thousands of Serbian flags and where there were no Albanian fans, exactly for not letting the match to degrade. I have seen everywhere that when a hymn is played, there is silence. In this stadium, the Albanian hymn was followed by chants “death to Albanians”, Rama declared.

The French newspaper insisted for Rama to give a wider answer about the involvement of his brother.

“I already answered by saying that this is ridiculous. My brother was there with 50 other Albanians who had regular tickets from the Albanian Football Federatin. He was at the VIP tribune. They were searched in airport and at the stadium’s entrance. They had no chance to take any drone inside. This is part of a desperate attempt to blame Albania, when that football match turned into an arena of ethnic racism, which is unacceptable and intolerable”, Rama declared.

The Prime Minister was also asked about his visit in Serbia, on October 22nd, if it was compromised.

“I am sorry for what happened in the stadium. It was a responsibility of the Serbian authorities to answer for the safety in stadium. It is regretful that instead of condemning violence and distance themselves from this spectacle that is unacceptable for Europe, the Serbian government chose to follow the rhetoric of the football fans who ruined the image of their national football. We chose the European behavior, which is to not answer to the nationalistic and brutal rhetoric. We chose to continue our path towards the future and keep working for peace, cooperation and dialogue with all countries of this region, where this is the first year without a conflict after 100 years. These steps back are intolerable, same as the futile arguments that the raising of a flag provokes the honor of a country”, Rama underlined.

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