Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke about the Open Balkans initiative, reiterating in Rubikon talk show tonight that he does not support it.
“I don’t have another position. Open Balkans, as far as I know, doesn’t even have a website. Therefore, it is an initiative without a platform or a basic agreement, without a strategy or an action plan,“ said Kurti.
“It’s not in accordance with European Union rules, it lacks EU funding, and I cannot support such an initiative, “ he stressed for Klan Kosovo.
“There is an agreement. The agreement was reached in Brussels and Ohrid. It is legally binding. The EU has adopted this agreement, not just mediators Borrell and Lajcak, who concluded that it is an agreement, but, unfortunately, there is no signature due to the other side,“ said the Kosovo Prime Minister.
Speaking about the five European countries that haven’t recognized Kosoov, Kurti says that Kosovo’s allies are helpful but he has not them written letters requesting that they do so.
“Mediators and allied countries are helping us a lot, and I believe that it is better to take this indirect path in terms of advancing towards the recognition of the ‘group of five.’ It is simply not in our hands, and I do not believe that it would help to write to them immediately after this agreement. We call for this at every meeting we organize. I have not personally addressed them with a letter, but these are also sensitive lobbying issues. If I tell you who I wrote a letter to last week, I am doing harm because Serbia immediately writes to that country.“
He admitted that Serbia has a “much stronger network of embassies and foreign services than Kosovo.”
Kurti: I won’t give Vučić permission to come to Kosovo
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti claims that he will not give permission to Aleksandar Vučić to come to Kosovo.
He said that under the current circumstances, Vučić is not a desirable person in Kosovo.
“I have not received any request for such a visit, and of course, considering the situation and the circumstances we are in, he would not be a desirable person in Kosovo, and perhaps that is the reason why this request has not been made for more than two years,” he said on Rubikon at Klan Kosovo.
Kurti: KLA and NATO brought us freedom as a result of Rambouillet’s failure
Kurti claims that the failure of Rambouillet led to NATO’s intervention.
If this agreement had been successful, it would have been much worse, he noted. At the same time, Kurti remains highly critical of Ahtisaari’s proposal and fights against “ethnic-based decentralization.”
“I was not satisfied with the content of the Rambouillet agreement. Our freedom was brought by the Kosovo Liberation Army and the NATO intervention that followed as a result of Rambouillet’s failure. So, if Rambouillet had succeeded, it would have been much worse. Rambouillet’s failure brought us NATO’s intervention. Secondly, in the negotiations in Vienna, I was very critical of President Ahtisaari’s proposal because I believed that we deserved more and more was our right; I fought against ethnic-based decentralization.”
“I can’t know,” Kurti answered when he was asked when de jure recognition from Serbia might arrive.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti linked Kosovo’s recognition by Serbia with two international events – the war in Ukraine and the presidential elections in the US.
“I believe that next year is an election year in the US when there should be light at the end of the tunnel regarding the war in Ukraine. These are the phases when the normalization of relations would be rounded off,” said Kurti.
“I am facing the double opportunism of Belgrade, the end of the war in Ukraine, and who will take office in the White House. Both in the East and the West, there is understanding for Belgrade’s demands for some more time. This is a problematization of perception from the West.”
Kurti explains why there is no recognition during his government
Kurti also spoke on why there is no recognition during his government.
He says that although it does not depend on them, they have done everything they knew and could.
“It’s not all up to us; we have done everything we know and can do. I don’t believe others have fared better,” he said, recalling why he did not promise that there would be recognition.
“I did not make a promise because I knew that such a promise would weaken the position concerning those countries and that it depends much more on our partners in Western democracies than on us,“ he said.
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