Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti: "We can feel Serbia's aggression all the time"

Before parliamentary elections in Serbia - Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti: "We can feel Serbia's aggression all the time"

Mr. Prime Minister, 15 years ago, the Republic of Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Since then, most Germans have lost sight of the country. What kind of country is Kosovo today in your view? Kosovo is a democratic, sovereign and independent country that aspires to join the European Union and NATO. Worldwide, 117 countries have recognized us, including 22 of the 27 EU members. Next year, our state budget will be 35 percent higher than in 2021, when I became Prime Minister. We have managed to increase tax revenue by two thirds without changing tax policy. Direct investment from abroad has doubled. And our image has improved: we have moved up 20 places in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index.

You are now ranked 84th out of 180 countries surveyed, which is slightly above the middle. Yes, but it's about the trend, which is clearly positive. And we are now the best country in the Western Balkans in terms of corruption.

This year, there have been repeated reports of escalating violence in Kosovo, most recently an attack by Serbian paramilitaries in Kosovo in September. Is a new war in Kosovo possible?we have an aggressive neighbor that does not recognize us.

Yes,all the problems we have with national security, state sovereignty and territorial integrity come from there. Our population is 93 percent Albanian, but we also have four percent Serbs and other minorities. We have positive discrimination: 20 of the 120 seats in parliament are reserved for certain minorities, but the Serbs boycott their seats because Belgrade tells them to. We support the Serbs in Kosovo in various ways: we build houses, we help start-up farmers - my Minister for Communities and Return, Nenad Rašić, a Serb, takes care of that. But the more good we do for the Serbs in Kosovo, the more nervous and aggressive Belgrade becomes. In recent years, Belgrade has become even more nervous because support for President Vučić's party offshoot there has fallen to eight percent. At the same time, we have been very successful in the fight against organized crime under my government. And that made some people in the north of Kosovo very nervous because they used the region to their own advantage. The highlight was a terrorist attack on Kosovo on September 24 by paramilitaries trained by Belgrade and acting on Belgrade's behalf. They came to stir up new conflicts. Belgrade cannot stand the fact that our country is successful.

Back then, on September 24, masked men engaged in firefights with Kosovar police officers in northern Kosovo, having previously blocked roads around a Serb-majority village. Can you prove that the attack was carried out on the orders or with the knowledge of the Serbian president?this attack was carried out by paramilitaries who received their orders directly from Belgrade. And there is only Vučić, because Serbia is politically a one-man show. We also have evidence that the Serbian army gave these people the weapons. And the figure who led these paramilitaries is Milan Radoičić. We know him well, he used to be one of the leaders of organized crime. In the 1990s, when Milosevic was in power in Serbia, criminals became criminals in the name of nationalism and hatred towards others. And today we see that some criminals want to become politicians. This is no longer possible in Kosovo. That's why someone like Milan Radoičić is in Serbia today.

Let me come back to my initial question: Is a new war over Kosovo possible? We cannot rule out an attack because it does not depend on us. But we are vigilant and have the support of our own troops and those of our NATO allies, who have stepped up their support since the September attack in order to safeguard the security of our country. Moreover, by investing in our military, we are meeting the two percent GDP criterion for defense. When there is a democracy, elected leaders must be accountable for their actions. That leads to predictability. But a dictatorship causes danger. You don't know what Vučić will one day order his police and army to do. We can feel Serbia's aggressiveness all the time: They have 48 forward bases of the military and gendarmerie around Kosovo - in the shape of a horseshoe.

On the other hand, President Vučić is the one you have to deal with somehow, because Kosovo's political future in Europe depends on some kind of recognition by Serbia.more than that: since February 27 of this year, we even have an agreement, the so-called "Ohrid Agreement", which is similar to the Basic Treaty that West Germany and East Germany concluded in 1972: Live and let live, a de facto recognition of the other.

But is the agreement still alive after the many escalations this year?But every week the Serbian side violates the agreement, especially article four: they are running an aggressive campaign against Kosovo's admission to international organizations. Moreover, President Vučić has not signed the agreement: He says he did not accept it in substance, but only as a concept. The biggest problem is that the EU does not take action when Serbia violates the agreements.

Some say that the EU is not taking action because it is currently trying very hard to woo Serbia: There istoo much fear on the European side that Serbia will develop in the direction of Belarus. But the development is already heading in that direction. I remember my friends in European diplomacy who told me before the presidential and parliamentary elections in April 2022: wait and see, the elections in Serbia will bring about a change of course towards the West. But that didn't happen. The majority of Western diplomats and foreign policy experts are either afraid of losing Serbia altogether or they believe that they can somehow put Serbia on the road to the West after all - they just have to wait a little longer. But it is not working.

Geopolitically, Vučić is in a comfortable position. He wants to sit on four chairs at the same time.

He wants money from the EU, dollars from the USA, but above all he wants Chinese investment and Russian weapons.That may be good for him, but not for the people of Serbia. This kind of politics is not sustainable; it's like drinking sea water to quench your thirst.

A new parliament will be elected in Serbia on Sunday. Do you expect any positive impetus for rapprochement between Kosovo and Serbia? These are only parliamentary elections, and in Serbia the president decides everything. I think Serbia has made a geopolitical decision: they will not break away from Russia. And they are being so aggressive towards Kosovo because they want to prove to the Russians that they are a loyal proxy. I think it would have an effect if the EU and the US really used their stick against Belgrade. If they were to reintroduce a visa requirement or freeze financial aid because Serbia is behaving like a proxy for Russia, then that would lead to change.

At the moment, the opposite seems to be happening: The US and the EU sanctionedyour government in the summer : you and other government representatives can no longer make state visits to the EU and the US, funds have been frozen.There were attacks on our police units and KFOR soldiers in April after we tried to get mayors into their offices in northern Kosovo. But we continue to hold meetings and work closely with EU and US leaders.

Mayors who werenot elected;mayors who were elected, but with little legitimacy because the turnout in the elections was low.

Yes, but they had no chance to participatebecauseBelgrade had people on the ground who prevented it. The EU and the US thought that the reason for the violence was our attempt to get the mayors there. One of my European friends said to me: "You are responsible for the violence. But there are no volcanoes here in the north. There are agents, names and structures behind outbreaks of violence. We made this public back in June, and after the attack by the paramilitaries at the end of September it became obvious to everyone. But there is a certain reluctance to withdraw the measures - as they are officially called - against us. Ironically, my Serbian minister Nenad Rašić was the first to be affected by these sanctions: in June, his meeting with EU representatives in Brussels was canceled.

Will the sanctions against you be lifted soon?On January 1, Kosovo will receive visa facilitation from the EU. We applied for EU membership a year ago - next year I hope that we will officially be granted candidate status. We want to get the necessary thousands of questions from Ms. von der Leyen, and I am ready to answer them patiently. And we want to become a member of the Council of Europe in 2024 because we adhere to the fundamental principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

More and more cracks have recently become visible in the EU: between individual states, but also in the leadership, for example between Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel. Is it a problem for you that Brussels does not speak with one voice? The EU is the most important political project for peace and prosperity since the Second World War. And there will always be competition. But I hope that cooperation will prevail. Anyone who thinks they can strengthen their own state by weakening the EU is mistaken. Only the Russian Federation benefits from this.

What percentage of the Kosovo budget actually depends on Western institutions?However, our budget comes from the people. Most of our money comes from the diaspora: there are over half a million Kosovars in Germany alone, 250,000 in Switzerland, 20 percent of our GDP is remittances from our diaspora. This is another reason why Germany is so important for our future. Some of our best professors and students are with you today, but we want to turn the brain drain into a brain gain, i.e. bring people back. That is why we have a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. By the way, I also learned the word "Ausbildung" from our diaspora - it's now my favorite word in German.

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1. Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, expressed concerns about Serbia's aggression towards Kosovo.
2. Kosovo is a democratic, sovereign, and independent country that aspires to join the European Union and NATO.
3. Germany, along with 117 other countries, has recognized Kosovo's independence, including 22 EU members.
4. Under Kurti's government, Kosovo's state budget has increased by 35%, tax revenue has doubled without changing tax policy, and direct investment from abroad has doubled.
5. Kosovo has improved its image in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, moving up 20 places and becoming the least corrupt country in the Western Balkans.
6. Serbia, an aggressive neighbor that does not recognize Kosovo, is responsible for most of Kosovo's problems with national security, state sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
7. Belgrade has become more nervous as support for President Vučić's party offshoot in Kosovo has fallen to eight percent.
8. In response to Kurti's government's success in fighting organized crime, Belgrade has carried out attacks on Kosovo, including one on September 24 by paramilitaries trained in Serbia and acting on Belgrade's behalf.
9. The EU has not taken action against Serbia for violating agreements with Kosovo, despite repeated violations, leading some to question the EU's commitment to promoting democracy and transparency.

Source: www.stern.de