Published 24 April 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
PM HARRIS TALKS COOPERATION DURING MEETING WITH REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO AMBASSADOR
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, April 24, 2018 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, and Ambassador-designate of the Republic of Kosovo, Her Excellency Ms. Zana Rudi held brief discussions earlier today (Tuesday, April 24) on ways of deepening bilateral relations between the two countries.
Ambassador Rudi, who was accompanied at that meeting by Minister Counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Naser Miftari, is presently in St. Kitts and Nevis to present her credentials to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis as the first Ambassador from Kosovo to be accredited to St. Kitts and Nevis since its Independence in 2008.
Prime Minister Harris, who was supported by Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Andrew Skerritt, extended a warm welcome to Ambassador Rudi to St. Kitts and Nevis and stated that her visit to the twin island Federation signaled the willingness of both countries to strengthen ties.
Dr. Harris said, “Through your good works and endeavours, we hope that your people and our people would become better acquainted. Your country has gone through its own period of difficulties and challenges; our country has too and so we have experiences about the challenges of development which we can share, and certainly we can be supportive of each other on a number of matters of international concerns that will arise from time to time.”
St. Kitts and Nevis is among 114 countries out of the 193 sovereign states of the United Nations that recognize Kosovo as an independent nation.
On March 4, 2016, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo signed a Short-Stay Visa Waiver Agreement, allowing for visa-free travel for citizens of both countries when travelling to the other for a maximum period of ninety days during a 180 period.
In her remarks, Ambassador Rudi thanked Prime Minister Harris and the St. Kitts and Nevis Government for their continued support.
She added, “We have an important job to do from Panama to strengthen relations with countries like yours and paying thanks to the support we have received from your country. It is very important for me to convey to you the gratitude of my government and the people of Kosovo for first having recognized our independent country, and secondly, for establishing diplomatic relations–fortifying it even more, and also for signing the agreement in exoneration of visa which I believe provides the basis for much more exchange.”
Her Excellency Ms. Zana Rudi is stationed at the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Panama. In 2009, she worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in New York as a Senior Policy Advisor.
From 2011 to 2013, she served as Political Advisor to the Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kosovo, before assuming the post of Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo. She has since been promoted to Ambassador.
Photo caption (L-R): Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Thouvia France; Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Andrew Skerritt; Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris; Ambassador-designate of the Republic of Kosovo, Her Excellency Ms. Zana Rudi; and Minister Counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Naser Miftari.
