By Ivan Mitić
„Don’t doubt NATO. It saved my people,“ Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti emphasized to the American public in an op-ed for the New York Times last week. He reinforced this message during a joint interview with Wesley Clark on CNN yesterday. Despite his current calls to trust NATO, the Self-determination movement he leads has previously expressed skepticism towards the alliance.
The Self-determination Movement and Albin Kurti himself in the post-war years, before coming to power, often criticized the West in connection with the events of 1999. They were also critical of the role of KFOR/NATO in the years that followed, i.e. after the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army and the entry of NATO troops.
On one occasion, they expressed their stance on the NATO bombing in a statement entitled „Why NATO intervened in Kosovo“.
The text, which is not available now on the website of the ruling Kosovo party, according to the media, was published on June 2, 2010.
Nacionale.com reminded of this text on the anniversary of the beginning of the bombing of FR Yugoslavia on March 24 two years ago, with the claim that the text had been removed from the site.
The same media even writes that the spokesperson of the Self-determination Movement, Arlind Manjhuka, previously promised that the party would republish the statements that were removed from the site, but that this did not happen.
In the years before coming to power, several documents and other information were removed from the official Self-determination website, and the site also contains documents with revised content.
Pointing to the statement of the Prime Minister of Kosovo from 2022, on the occasion of the start of the NATO bombing, which he then defined as a „correct move“ by the Alliance, Nacionale reminded of the Self-determination announcement, noting that in 2010 they had a „radically different“ attitude which is not in line with the current view shared by Kurti.
Transmitting parts of the announcement, this media stated that Self-determination „questioned the intentions of the Allies“.
„…it is not so important whether this intervention was legal, as much as it is important to analyze why this intervention was actually carried out?! Was Kosovo liberated by NATO’s intervention or was the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Yugoslavia preserved?!“, the announcement reads.
Self-determination also blamed NATO for the „intensification of ethnic cleansing carried out by Serbian forces“.
„If NATO’s intervention was carried out against ethnic cleansing, as Cvetan Todorov says, then the end result, on the contrary, was the strengthening of ethnic cleansing,“ reads the statement of Self-Determination, writes Nacionale.
Selmanaj: For Kurti, once upon a time the international community was a bigger enemy than Serbia
LDK MP Driton Selmanaj also remarked on the changes in the stance of the former opposition and the current ruling party.
Commenting on last week’s article for the New York Times, Selmanaj paraphrased Kurti’s statements about the importance of the NATO bombing „for the liberation of Kosovo“, that it „put an end to the horror“ and that „the political will of major powers is needed for NATO intervention“.
„But can you believe that for the one who expressed this opinion, a few years ago, when he was in the opposition, the international community was a bigger enemy than Serbia,“ pondered the LDK MP.
He also commented on the Self-determination statement entitled „Why NATO intervened in Kosovo“, attributing these statements to Kurti himself.
„Albin Kurti 2010: ‘Noam Chomsky is right in saying that in the event of a humanitarian crisis, the outside world has three options: to act to make the disaster worse; to not act at all; and act on disaster mitigation; Kosovo belongs to the first category’.
Albin Kurti 2010: ‘While NATO is waging its comfortable war from the air, Albanian civilians are left at the mercy of Serbian military and paramilitary forces on the ground’.
Albin Kurti 2010: ‘There was no UN approval for NATO bombing, although some believe that with the approval of Resolution 1244, NATO bombing is actually approved.’”
This MP also claims that „the statements have been deleted from the Internet“, sending a message to Kurti that „he cannot erase the stains from his countenance“.
The LDK MP also published screenshots of announcements from the Self-Determination website.
In the text from 2010, it is said that NATO did not „intervene to liberate Kosovo“, but to force Serbia to accept the peace plan.
„At the end of the day, it is not so important whether this intervention was legal, as much as it is important to analyze why this intervention was actually carried out?! Was Kosovo liberated by NATO’s intervention or was the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Yugoslavia preserved?!… The NATO intervention was not carried out to liberate Kosovo, but to force the Serbian side to accept a peace plan, and that plan not only guaranteed that NATO would have free movement throughout the FRY, but also guaranteed the protection of the integrity and territorial sovereignty of Yugoslavia (the goal was to preserve international peace and stability),“ reads the text published by the LDK deputy.
While Kurti now claims that NATO „saved“ his people, in the text of Self-determination from 14 years ago, it is stated that the Alliance „was not so concerned about deterring an armed attack by Serbian forces on the Albanian civilian population.“
„This is proven by the statement of General Wesley Clark, NATO’s supreme commander during the bombing in Kosovo, who says that the escalation of violence and atrocities by Serbian forces after the start of the NATO bombing was completely predictable.“
According to the published parts of the text, Self-determination equated NATO’s action at that time with the worsening of the disaster.
„Noam Chomsky is right in saying that in the event of a humanitarian crisis, the outside world has three options: to act to make the disaster worse; to not act at all; and to act on disaster mitigation; Kosovo belongs to the first category because the deportation of around one million people happened after the start of the NATO intervention and the vast majority of the killings of civilians happened after the start of the NATO intervention.“
„KFOR – Big Brother“
In addition to criticizing the West regarding the events of 1999, Self-determination and Albin Kurti himself were critical of the role of KFOR/NATO in the years that followed, that is, after the entry of troops into Kosovo and the simultaneous withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army.
Furthermore, apart from advocating the position that international missions should leave Kosovo, primarily UNMIK and EULEX, they additionally criticized KFOR for bias in its actions.
For example, in one of the campaigns, which Self-determination also led in 2010, almost exactly 14 years ago (July 14), they said the following:
„KFOR is watching you. Even if you have intimate sessions with your partner like in a commercial. It is everywhere. And it comes by helicopter. It looks at you. It’s Big Brother. Although in a smaller number now, KFOR is faster than ever. KFOR takes care of you down to the smallest detail. It sees the tree, but doesn’t see the forest. If you organize a rally somewhere in a remote village in Kosovo, KFOR will be behind you. But when Serbia burns the borders of Kosovo, KFOR closes its eyes. It does not see or hear, like an ostrich. KFOR does not care when the parallel structures of Serbia occupy the courts in the north. Not even when they throw hand grenades and use Kalashnikovs to prevent Albanians from rebuilding their ruined houses there. KFOR sometimes watches and listens to you. It depends. If you are Albanian, it acts like Big Brother. If you are a parallel structure of Serbia, then it acts as a partner. All KFOR reactions are addressed to Albanians only. Even the ones where the muscles are shown. Sometimes they are addressed to both parties – the cat and the dog. KFOR is the guardian of Kosovo which turned it into a zoo. KFOR is for the stability of the region. Stability that requires the disarmament of the Albanians and tolerates the militarization of Serbia. That is the stability of Resolution 1244. The stability of the existing situation. The stability of the weak, of poverty, the stability of the sale of Kosovo assets. But according to KFOR, you should stay calm. Do not do it. Because Big Brother is watching!”
On their official website, in the Deconstruction section, to the question „How can you work with Serbia without the presence of KFOR?“, they answered:
„KFOR is in Kosovo precisely because they don’t allow our army. Kosovo should have its own army. KFOR is not there to oppose Serbia, because if it was, then it would not have allowed the burning of Kosovo’s borders on February 19, 2008. The Kosovo Army would never have allowed this kind of aggression against the territorial integrity of our country. Kosovo politicians are deceiving themselves when they say that Kosovo has a partnership with NATO. Without the army, Kosovo cannot have a partnership with NATO. Because NATO cannot have a partnership with itself! KSF is not an army. It is the humanitarian agency of KFOR. But partnership requires two military sides.“
In response to the second question „Why are you against the creation of a multi-ethnic Kosovo“, they indirectly answered the former KFOR commander Yves de Kermabon:
„Because Kosovo should be a state of the majority Albanian people and all other minorities. If Kermabon likes it so much, why doesn’t he make his France multi-ethnic? If multi-ethnicity is very modern and the one nation-state is very primitive, why does this apply only to us and not everyone? Multiethnicity as a phenomenon is not an intended credo, but a factual reality. Kosovo is very homogeneous, nationally speaking. The political and legal system must reflect the will of the people and the interests of citizens. It is up to this state to guarantee all European rights of national minorities.“
They repeatedly indicated, like Kurti himself, that there are „too many foreigners“ in Kosovo, and that Kosovo is „not sovereign“ due to international missions, that foreigners „imposed“ the constitution and symbols on it, and that the people of Kosovo do not freely decide on the organization of their state.
The answers to the questions in the Alternative/Deconstruction section are among the rarer pieces of information that have remained originally on this site.
And after coming to power?
The Self-determination Movement was the opposition for a total of 14 years, i.e. from its founding in 2005 until 2019.
Then its leader formed a government with the LDK. This government, however, was short-lived. Kurti held the position of prime minister for just over 50 days.
However, he soon returned to office. In March 2021, he became prime minister again, and then his rhetoric towards the West, including NATO, changed even more.
The Kosovo Prime Minister „has no doubt that the NATO military intervention stopped the genocide“.
„NATO’s military intervention stopped Serbia’s genocide against our people, we are always and forever grateful,“ Kurti said on June 12 last year, on the anniversary of the entry of NATO troops into Kosovo.
He made similar statements on other anniversaries and manifestations dedicated to the events of 1999 and the NATO bombing in the previous four years.
Kurti had even more words of praise for NATO after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Pristina apparatus led by Kurti began an intensive lobbying campaign with the request that Kosovo be allowed to become a member of the Partnership for Peace and NATO as soon as possible, with the daily claims that Serbia is a „satellite of Russia that will spread the conflict to the Western Balkans“.
„There is nothing that Russia and Serbia would like more than to expand the conflict from Ukraine to the Western Balkans. Your purpose is our purpose, your struggle is our struggle,“ stated Kurti last February in a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He then presented the NATO alliance to Zelenskyy as a „protector from the genocide of Serbia in 1999“, calling on the West to protect Ukraine from „Russian genocide“.
During his second mandate, Kurti also frequently presented Serbia to the international media, for which he gave statements frequently, as a party that wanted to start a new conflict, while also constantly accusing Milošević of genocide.
He did the same yesterday.
„In historical, cultural and operational terms, the Kremlin and Belgrade have imitated each other and this is worrying. Therefore, we are concerned because it is in the Kremlin’s interest to spread other conflicts in Europe through its collaborators. And Serbia in the Balkans is a hegemonic state and at the same time a collaborator of Russia,” Albin Kurti said in an interview with CNN.
He asked Western allies to „pressure“ Serbia to remove „48 active operational bases around the borders with Kosovo“.
The annual NATO summit has begun in Washington, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of NATO’s founding. On that occasion, in the midst of the presidential race in the US, Kurti and retired US general Wesley Clark, who is also an honorary citizen of Kosovo, had a joint interview led by Christiane Amanpour.
From „exacerbating the disaster“ to „saving the people“
Kurti visibly raised his role as a „promoter“ of NATO to a higher level last week.
In the midst of the US election campaign, which is currently dominated by assessments of Trump being the superior choice, who is known for his criticism of the functioning of the NATO alliance, over the increasingly unreliable and weakened Joseph Biden, the New York Times published an op-ed by the Prime Minister of Kosovo entitled „Don’t doubt NATO. It saved my people.“
He was trying to convince the American public of the indispensable role of NATO.
“Some in the United States have downplayed NATO’s importance. Many European partners worry that after the US presidential election in November, American commitment to the alliance will wane,” said Kurti, who supported Biden in the 2020 presidential election and called on Albanians in the US to vote for him“.
Now, he wanted to remind the world that “NATO is embedded in the cultural and political identity” of Kosovo.
While accusing Slobodan Milošević of massacres, rapes and a humanitarian disaster, he specified that “continued NATO aerial bombardment of Serbian forces and positions put an end to the horror”.
“Who among my men could forget the sight of NATO soldiers being cheered as they arrived? Over the past 25 years, as NATO helped liberate Kosovo and keep the peace, we built democracy to foster that peace from within.”
Kurti was adamant that “NATO’s intervention was humanitarian,” and that “a humanitarian intervention also serves national interests, however distinct we might like to think of them.”
“NATO’s presence ensured peace and allowed us to rebuild. The troops protected our border, but they also helped us defend ourselves, including raising our own army, the Kosovo Security Force.”
In the end, he wrote about the ties between Serbia and Russia, claiming that they represent a security threat. Finally, he once again underlined the key role of NATO.
“A quarter of a century after its intervention, NATO’s role in Kosovo proves that the organization is more decisive than ever. Her strong track record in the country shows that the democracy and institutional support she helped establish, along with the external threats she prevented, successfully preserved the peace,” he concluded.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
