Kosovo President, Hashim Thaci, called on Spain to recognize Kosovo “as soon as possible” arguing that Spain is “not Milosevic’s Serbia, while Kosovo is not Catalonia or the Basque country.”

Thaci, speaking in an interview for the EFE Agency, said that recognizing Kosovo “should not create any additional nationalist tensions in Spain, because parallels between the two cases can’t be drawn.” 

“I want to believe that Spain wishes to make life easier, not harder for us. We are friendly countries, we share the same values, and Spain has nothing against Kosovo,” Thaci said, quoted by Kosovo Radio and Television. 

Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, since than is recognized by 113 countries worldwide, including the U.S., U.K., France and Germany.

It is recognized bu 23 of 28 EU countries. Spain, together with Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Slovakia, is among five European Union countries that have yet to recognized Kosovo./tvklan.al