“Germia Hill” gathers together about 100 diplomats from across the world in Prishtina

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Deputy Minister Selimi said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, in cooperation with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and with the support of the British Council and British Embassy during the next three days is expecting the largest number of guests to have ever come to Kosovo for such a conference.

He emphasized that the aim of the conference was to raise public awareness and to improve Kosovo’s image, by using public diplomacy as a method by which the Republic of Kosovo can strengthen its presence in Brussels and in capitals of states that have not yet recognized it.  

“We are proud that in Kosovo for the first time we are organizing a conference with over 100 participants from across the world, including foreign ministers, deputy military chiefs of staff, civil society experts, journalists and world famous media representatives, who will gather in Kosovo for two days and discuss primary issues of European foreign policy”, said Selimi.

He added that Kosovo is being used as a platform for this large diplomatic gathering despite many European difficulties, which have put on their agenda debates about integration, the Euro and significant problems of international policy, sidelining the Balkans slightly from their programs.

“We are satisfied that to begin with, we are part of the debates and we are not remaining on the margins as usual and that Kosovo can be present even in this very difficult European time”, said Selimi, adding that Kosovo aims through this conference to be an essential part of the discussions.

Arjeta Emra, director of the British Council in Kosovo said that this conference is part of the project which the MFA, the British Embassy and British Council began in July of this year.

“A fund has been established to promote Kosovo in public diplomacy. For the first time, a forum of this level and with this participation is being held tomorrow and the next day in cooperation with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) which is one of the most important organizations at the European level”, said Emra. She said that this conference is a continuation of public diplomacy activities that started in September of this year.

According to her, 10 days ago another conference was held which brought 20 participants to Kosovo from states that have still not recognized Kosovo within the EU.

“As the project continues, there will be visits to relevant states. The reason we began with activities in Kosovo is firstly because we thought that it is better for representatives of these states, starting from governments, media, and civil society, to come to Kosovo and to learn about the situation in Kosovo before starting with activities in their countries”, said Emra.

The conference will be held on Friday and Saturday and will be organized together with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) which is one of the most famous foreign policy and international relations organizations in Europe.  Members of this organization are state leaders, ministers of foreign affairs, Marti Ahtisaari and the financier George Soros.