The recognition of Kosovo is a one-way street, and demands of the EU will force Serbia into taking the step, Hashim Thaci, once Kosovo's first Prime Minister and now Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs, has told Novinite.

Thaci's interview with Novinite comes on the occasion of Kosovo's independence day marked February 17, the date when its Parliament proclaimed independence from Serbia.

Putting his emphasis on the key achievements of Kosovo on the international stage in the past few years, Thaci has warned that the biggest challenge to reconciliation is still posed by part of Serbia's "political elite that is stirring nationalist emotions even today".

Thaci is confident his country is to have an army "in any case" in 2015. Last year, a government under his leadership stepped down after the former legislature failed to approve a bill that would result in the setting up of Kosovo's own armed forces.

Regarding Kosovo's future, the Deputy PM believes it is high time the country takes responsibility of its own justice sector after the end of the EU's rule-of-law mission EULEX in 2016.

"Kosovo will turn from importer of NATO security resources to an exporter of peace initiatives," Thaci has argued when asked about the country's prospective NATO membership aspirations.

You can read the full interview here.