Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama called Wednesday on the European Union (EU) to issue a new statement and condemn the day of mourning declared in Serbia over the tragic events in Kosovo.

Addressing a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani in Rome, Rama said Albania cannot align with the EU’s first statement on the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue without a secondary statement that condemns Serbia’s actions.

The Albanian Prime Minister said he finds Belgrade’s declaration of a national day of mourning unacceptable and unjustifiable and that such actions must be punished.

For the first time in at least the past ten years, our position is in contrast to the European Union’s foreign policy statement, said Rama, adding: This stance is related to the fact that the European Union’s statement, while not inherently problematic, because it refers to everything that (EU) High Representative (Josep) Borrell said earlier about Kosovo’s obligations related to the Dialogue, fails to align with the recent events.

He said Albania finds it “impossible to align with the European Union without a secondary statement that addresses the recent developments. These events involved a dramatic incident where a Kosovo Police officer was killed by a criminal group evidently committed to carrying out acts of terror in northern Kosovo, and this was followed by Belgrade’s declaration of a national day of mourning.”

Such actions are unacceptable, unjustifiable, even deserve to be condemned, they are non-European and this is the worst message that Serbia could send to the entire region and to Europe at this critical juncture, said Rama.

He noted that Albania has called on the EU and Euro-Atlantic community to raise their voices and to convey the appropriate response to Belgrade’s actions, adding that his country will not endorse the initial EU statement until a second one is issued.