Kurti: To normalize relations, Serbia must change

But what is the purpose of this long visit, what are his expectations from this and what is the situation in Kosovo. The head of the Albanian service of VOA, Arben Xhixho, talked about all this with Prime Minister Kurti.

Voice of America: Mr. Prime Minister, this is one of the longest visits of a Kosovo Prime Minister to the United States, and what has stood out is the numerous meetings with businesses, mainly in the field of informatics, that you have conducted. The public is already familiar with the names of many companies you have met and without going through their list. What are the expectations after the meetings with these leaders, is there a concrete promise for Kosovo?

Albin Kurti: At the end of last month I was only two days in Washington, DC on the occasion of the funeral of Secretary Madeleine Albright, to whom we owe a lot as a state of Kosovo and the Albanian nation, because the NATO intervention against Yugoslavia and Serbia ( Slobodan) Milosevic 23 years ago, bears her seal and signature. And after a week I came back to Washington DC We are starting negotiations for an agreement with MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) for the Compact program which is 236 million dollars and includes training of professionals on the issue of the energy sector and especially women there and on the other hand also rechargeable batteries. From Washington DC I flew to San Francisco, it was the first time I went to the west coast in Silicon Valley where we met with many entrepreneurs to whom we explained that Kosovo is a good place to invest as it has democratic governance, it is the first in terms of law in the Balkans according to the World Justice Project, in terms of corruption has moved up for good in 17 countries according to Transparency International, while according to Reporters Without Borders also 17 places higher in terms of media freedom. We made the Commercial Court in Kosovo and also the impressive double-digit economic growth in Kosovo was our invitation, not for businesses to come and sacrifice in Kosovo, but to come and earn there.

Voice of America: You are a small country and to attract investment you need to be an attractive place for them. Kosovo also does not have a great tradition, what do you offer to businesses that other countries in the region can not offer?

Albin Kurti: In Kosovo there are 650 companies only in the field of information technology, 10 percent of them are foreign owned, 21 percent are mixed ownership and 70 percent of them export, 60 percent of the products made are for export . So Kosovo has the indicators to become a kind of Estonia in Southeast Europe, we have an average age of 30 years, two thirds of the population under 35 years old, who all know English and a good part of German, has talent that will liberate and as We have invited American businessmen as well as Albanian-American ones to come and win in Kosovo and at the same time we have an even more rapid socio-economic development.

Voice of America: For a foreign visitor, although Kosovo is an independent and sovereign state, however I can not ignore the fact that Kosovo is still a country that has not joined the UN, has unresolved problems with its neighbor to the north. So there are some types of uncertainties. And here we will come to the old issue, that of the normalization of Kosovo’s relations with Serbia. It seems that during your administration, relations with Serbia have not progressed, it can even be argued that they have taken steps backwards. How do you see the solution?

Albin Kurti: There are no steps back, but Serbia has lagged behind, as it does not acknowledge the crimes it committed in Kosovo and also refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence. US President (Joe) Biden has formulated the issue very well, he said that we should have full normalization through a legally binding agreement, which focuses on mutual recognition. I am ready for mutual recognition, Serbia is not and there is no fault of any instance of the independent state of Kosovo for the fact that we do not have the claimed success in the dialogue with Serbia. Kosovo is an independent and sovereign state, its existence is not problematic. We do not have a normal relationship with Serbia, we want to normalize it, but for this purpose it is Serbia that needs to change.

Voice of America: Reaching an agreement with Serbia, in the prevailing opinion, would also require concessions from Kosovo. Few people think that Serbia will simply recognize Kosovo, so that is the maximum demand and the issue was resolved. Is Kosovo ready to make a concession and what?

Albin Kurti: In the past we have had for a decade a dialogue in which Kosovo made concessions awaiting recognition from Serbia, which is coming to an end. And that end did not happen. We now have a shift of the issue from, say, the time-consuming process, to the space of an agreement at the center of which is mutual recognition. I am not saying that mutual recognition is the only thing in the agreement, but it is at its center. Therefore, while Serbia says that we will never know you and its president says that Recak is not a real event, ie the massacre of January 15, 1999, then here is the problem that we do not have such an agreement yet. . We are willing, constructive, dedicated, creative. We gave our proposals for a declaration of peace not to attack each other, then for reciprocity of rights, but they were rejected by Serbia which did not give any idea.

Mr.of America: How important is the normalization of relations with Serbia for you? Or do you think that it would be good for them to normalize, but Kosovo can walk, develop as it is, despite the fact that Serbia does not recognize it. Prishtina does not have to make simple concessions for recognition. Do you stand by this theory?

Albin Kurti: We want normalization. I want dialogue for agreement, not dialogue for dialogue. However, I have to say that exports have increased by 83 percent this year, although Serbia did not recognize us, foreign direct investment has increased by 22 percent, the budget compared to two years ago by 26 percent, then tax revenues are increased by 34 percent, customs ones by 31 percent. So, Kosovo is a success story of the work and perseverance of its people and of the help and support of NATO, in particular of the United States of America. This success story must be defended and the purpose of my visit is: as much investment in Kosovo and as much security for Kosovo.

Voice of America: During his stay here, he met with President Biden’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, who strongly supported the EU-mediated dialogue process, but also sought to resolve outstanding issues. One of them is the issue of the association of Serb-majority municipalities. This request was also made by the EU. Will Kosovo recognize this association?

Albin Kurti: The Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities has not passed the test of the Constitutional Court in Kosovo. She found that 23 articles of the Constitution are practically violated and there may be an association of municipalities, but not on ethnic grounds.

Mr.of America: Can modifications be made, the government of Kosovo signed it then, the parliament ratified it, can this agreement be changed in order to recognize the association?

Albin Kurti: In the way it is in its spirit and letter, no.

Voice of America: Then how will you get out of this stalemate? Washington demands it, Brussels demands it, what position will you take?

Albin Kurti: You should keep in mind that at the center of the normalization agreement is not the association of Serb-majority municipalities and there is no US official saying that. At the center is mutual recognition. We do not need to remove mutual recognition from the center and bring the association, that time has passed. The other thing to note is that in the White House I was received by Mr. Jacob Sullivan, who is the main man of national security and for this purpose I have come to the United States of America, investments from America in Kosovo and security for Kosovo, especially from America. On this occasion I have shown the strong ties that Serbia has with Russia, then in all the meetings with close to 20 congressmen and senators, I have asked for the closure of the Russian Humanitarian Center in Nis, then the removal of the Russian office within the Ministry of Defense in Belgrade and also an area around Kosovo’s border with Serbia where there are 48 offensive military and gendarmerie bases to leave. So, for the security of Kosovo, we need a demilitarization of a belt around the border of Kosovo with Serbia and all these things I have discussed and I can say that our connection with the United States of America is extremely strong, it is unbreakable and it is such that the United States makes us partners, allies, and lifelong friends.

Voice of America: President Vuçiç has stated several times that the pressure on him is increasing from the west, from Washington, from Brussels to normalize relations with Kosovo. Is the same pressure increasing on you – on Pristina?

Albin Kurti: I would not call it pressure, I have a conversation in the form of partnership with everyone, equality of the parties in every situation and the Republic of Kosovo, although not in NATO, wants to join the partnership program for peace. It is absurd that Serbia has such a program with NATO and Kosovo does not. Serbia which claims a kind of neutrality towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is a slanderous thing and we asked for Kosovo to be helped for the partnership program for peace and also asked for the US military base which is located in Bondsteel, in the eastern part of Kosovo raise its status on a permanent basis.

Voice of America: Senior US officials have stressed that the normalization of Kosovo’s relations with Serbia would oppose Russia’s efforts to destabilize the Balkans. Do you think that in this context, today, when the geopolitics of Europe’s security is already failing, is the right moment and should be used for the normalization of relations with Serbia and how can this be achieved?

Albin Kurti: Undoubtedly, we need normal relations with Serbia, but for that, Serbia must change. Kosovo is in order, oriented by the United States of America, the European Union, NATO, Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy. So we are okay, those who are not okay should change, and we insist on that. We consider that now is the time for the Western Balkans to be fully integrated into the European Union, but we now have an additional problem – the practical alignment of Serbia with the Russian Federation. With this approach, Serbia is transforming itself into a Belarus of the Balkans, while on the other hand, the Republika Srpska with its Banja Luka is becoming a kind of Kaliningrad in the Balkans. Here the United States has a crucial role to play in changing the situation for the better.

Voice of America: How is your relationship with the US administration? Are you happy with Washington’s support for your country or do you expect more?

Albin Kurti: I believe that the United States of America knows Kosovo and the Albanian nation well and understands that they can have no other nation and state like us in terms of the common values ​​we share and the common goals we have. But in this situation when all the attention is focused on Ukraine, it is my duty as Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo to emphasize that part of this attention should be increased in the Balkans, namely in Kosovo, since there is not a week that does not the leaders in the Kremlin mention us, who see Kosovo as a chance to attack NATO as well. So not only NATO defends Kosovo, Kosovo also defends NATO, because it defends the story of NATO’s successful intervention in the Balkans.

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