(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSA) - ROME - In Kosovo ''we know who we are, we have fought for our freedom and we are proud of this. I think we deserve the Nobel Freedom Prize. I only hope that one day this award can be given to the UCK/KLA. I myself would apply to receive it'', Kosovo's Premier Ramush Haradinaj told ANSA. Haradinaj reiterated his criticism of the special tribunal established in The Hague in 2015 to judge the crimes committed by the men of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army, the Albanian separatist guerrilla who fought against the Serbs in the late 1990s).

''This is only one of the five courts before which our country has already passed after UNMIK (United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Eulex, and the local courts'', underlined the head of the government in Pristina.

''I've been there twice'', he said (acquitted of war crimes in both cases by the International Criminal Court in 2008 and 2012, Ed.). '' The Special Court - he added - was created outside Kosovo and is 'monoethnic', that is, it will defend only specific crimes and specific perpetrators, and these two aspects are criticised by many people across the country. But we will respect national and international laws''.

In these days Haradinaj met in Rome the Vatican secretary of state, card. Pietro Parolin, and was received in private audience by the Pope. Haradinaj wants to bring the small Balkan country closer to the Holy See, waiting for a recognition that ten years after the self-declared independence has not yet arrived. ''In June 2019 - he said - the 20th anniversary of the end of the war in the former Yugoslavia will be celebrated. Two decades of life in peace, a very important anniversary for us. I hope that on this occasion Pope Francis can also visit Kosovo. We would be honored''.

As for the transformation of the Kosovar Security Forces into an army, Haradinaj reiterated that ''this does not depend on somebody else. But to make such a move, however, we need mutual understanding, the right atmosphere and good will''. The intent of Pristina, he assured, ''is to contribute to peace and security not only at a regional but also international level''.

Finally, relations with Turkey, which still seem to be tense, after the arrest in Kosovo in late March of six Turkish citizens, members of the schools linked to Fethullah Gulen. On the recent rally held in Sarajevo - the only one abroad - by Turkish President Erdogan in view of the early elections on June 24 in Turkey, the Kosovar prime minister said: '' I do not think that our population is very interested in what happens around it. Kosovo, he added, ''remains focused on its own challenges: the fight against corruption and crime, the enforcement of the rule of law''. (ANSA).