Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has hit back at Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic over recent comments concerning the River Ibar and Kosovo, turning what began as a dispute over water and hydrology into a broader exchange over international law, Kosovo’s status and historical claims.

In a lengthy statement, Rama mocked what he described as a shift in the Serbian side’s argument, saying the discussion had moved from the technical issue of the Ibar River to questions surrounding “Greater Albania,” Kosovo and Serbia’s historical grievances.

“Although I expected an answer about the Ibar, somehow we traveled from hydrology to international law, made the obligatory stop at ‘Greater Albania,’ passed through ‘Kosovo and Metohija’ and finally arrived at the familiar museum of Serbian historical anxiety,” Rama said.

The dispute follows remarks by Vucic in which the Serbian president warned about developments involving the Ibar River and said Serbia had engaged experts to examine the possibility of changing the river’s course.

Rama categorically rejected any suggestion that Albania has territorial ambitions toward Serbia.

“Albania has absolutely no claim to Serbian territory and has no need to invent one. Nor do we need a ‘Greater Albania’ to stand alongside Kosovo,” Rama said.

The Albanian prime minister emphasized that Kosovo is an independent state and said Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian population has its own institutions and the right to determine its future.

“Kosovo is a state of its own. The Albanians of Kosovo are exactly that: Kosovo Albanians. They have their own Republic, their own institutions and the right to determine their own future. We will always support that right,” Rama said.

Rama also addressed Serbia’s continued refusal to recognize Kosovo’s independence, arguing that Belgrade’s position cannot change what he described as the political reality on the ground.

“Serbia lost Kosovo. Repeating that it did not lose it may perhaps turn the loss into a victory in the geography of political imagination, but unfortunately maps are less tolerant,” Rama wrote.

He further argued that the territory of the Republic of Kosovo cannot be considered Serbian territory and that natural resources located within Kosovo cannot be treated as resources belonging to the Republic of Serbia.

The exchange comes against the backdrop of long-running tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, with the status of Kosovo remaining one of the most sensitive political issues in the Western Balkans.