Pristina, November 7, 2022
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the launch of the citizen diplomacy program.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister welcomed the young people from diaspora, to their heart and homeland, to which, as he said, we are constantly in debt, but no one expresses our love and loyalty like them. The Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude for the commitment within the public diplomacy program.
“Knowing that our system needs knowledge and new experiences, your participation in this program is not just an added experience for you, but above all it is a great help for Kosovo. An opportunity, that is, to build a genuine program for your knowledge transfer and experience here in your motherland”, emphasized Prime Minister Kurti.
Prime Minister Kurti expressed endless gratitude to our diaspora for the continuous contribution of everyone who has been a key part of the economic, social and political development of Kosovo at all times.
Diaspora, he further said, played a central role in the resistance to the occupation and on the road to freedom. “Our professionals in diaspora, wherever they worked, united and contributed to liberation. Each and every one put her or his professional expertise at the service of the issue, from journalism and academia, to entrepreneurship, art, medicine and politics. Many of them came directly to the liberation army, and gave their lives in the battles that took place at that time.
In these three decades, diaspora has actively and massively contributed to the country’s economy. According to the Central Bank of Kosovo, in the last 5 years, more than 4 and a half billion euros have been brought by our compatriots as remittances to their homeland. Meanwhile, the investments are more than 1.5 billion during these last 5 years.
Prime Minister Kurti said that this assistance is undoubtedly an expression of their unconditional commitment and that our vision consists in having a more fruitful relationship and a more dignified Republic, through the exchange of knowledge and experience between the diaspora and the homeland, and through connections between the people we will mediate.
He further emphasized that Citizen Diplomacy Program, among other things, is one of the first steps in this vision and as we are taking this step together, so will be the next steps in future successes.
Prime Minister Kurti’s full speech:
Dear Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Donika Gërvalla Schwarz,
Honorable Ministers of Culture, Ceku, of Agriculture Peci, Deputy Ministers,
Dear Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Lisa Gashi,
Ladies and gentlemen, and especially you, dear young men and women of our diaspora,
First of all, allow me to welcome you to your home-country and at the same time to our beloved homeland, to which we are constantly indebted, but no one expresses our love and loyalty like you. And allow me to express my countless thanks for your commitment within the public diplomacy program. In fact, you started public diplomacy before we established a concept for such a term, but at the same time, now that we formalize this, we will be able to take steps that we have not taken in the past.
Knowing that our system needs knowledge and new experiences, your participation in this program is not just an added experience for you, but above all it is a great help for Kosovo. An opportunity, therefore, to build a genuine program for transferring your knowledge and experience here in your home country.
Whenever Kosovo was in need, our exile was by our side. Their continuous contribution has been a key part of Kosovo’s economic, social and political development at all times.
In addition, diaspora, played a central role in the resistance to the occupation and on our path to freedom. Our professionals in diaspora, wherever they worked, united and contributed to liberation. Each and every one put her or his professional expertise at the service of the issue, from journalism and academia, to entrepreneurship, art, medicine and politics. Many of them came directly to the liberation army, and gave their lives in the battles that took place at that time. Our gratitude and our memory of them is eternal. Our freedom today is essentially made possible by their sacrifice as well. Diaspora has supported Kosovo in the past. Since today, we are driven by the ideal for a developing, dignified and democratic state, diaspora remain a constant source of inspiration for us.
In these three decades, diaspora has actively and massively contributed to the country’s economy. According to the Central Bank of Kosovo, in the last 5 years, more than 4 and a half billion euros have been brought by our compatriots as remittances to their homeland. Meanwhile, the investments are more than 1.5 billion during these last 5 years. In other words, in the last five years they have brought more than 6 billion. More than 6 billion in the last 5 years, which if we look at the annual budgets in their average, it means that every year the remittance and investment is more than half of the annual budget of our state.
This help is definitely an expression of their unconditional commitment. None of them have even had interests or benefits from this huge financial venture. Although they are the main aid part towards our state building, they have not proportionally been part of the decision-making process compared to the aid and contribution that they have provided and continue to provide.
Our government has already begun to transform this reality. We are currently working to strengthen diaspora’s mediator role in high-level meetings with political decision-makers and large corporations in their residence countries.
In addition to enabling investments in the country, we are currently preparing development bank opening, while the Commercial Court has already started working. But we are also creating favorable conditions for our compatriots to do business not only in Western Europe, America and even in Australia, but also here at home, in your country and ours. We will formalize the process of investments in the Republic, so that diaspora has direct decision-making in the country’s economy and in the cultural and political fields apart from the economic one. In order to dynamize our Republic’s cooperation with diaspora as much as possible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora is already finalizing the drafting of the Draft Law on Diaspora.
Nothing helps more than the direct contact between ourselves. That’s why we started the dialogue with diaspora members around the world. With diaspora professionals, with world-renowned companies where they are employed, students and others. Altogether, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and our Deputy Prime Minister, Mrs. Donika Gërvalla, we have carried out a campaign that is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, present here tonight also the deputy minister; “Taste Kosovo”, the aim of which is to bring diaspora closer to the institutions of the country, especially the young generation, closer to the culture of their parents and to the Albanian language, and to enable them what we have called integration without assimilation.
A great asset that diaspora brings is the enhanced knowledge and skills they acquire in their residence countries. Diaspora`s inclusion in the framework of education, health and other important policies aims in bringing other important perspectives as well as lessons and innovations from the countries where our diaspora lives and operates, which can be later adapted in Kosovo context. So emigration has not only brought remittances and investments, but also knowledge, need and skill, from countries bringing the work ethic to Western Europe, United States of America, and the democratic West, in general, where they live and work.
This involvement has as a long-term goal the further development of the Republic with contemporary steps as well as the improvement of the standard of life for our citizens.
With this spirit, the Citizen Diplomacy Program was compiled and implemented, which involved the youth of our diaspora in the further development of Kosovo’s diplomacy. Diaspora has only been one of our greatest diplomats, albeit in the role of citizen, and now we have 10 new citizens selected from a total of 173 applications. These scholarship holders come from all over the world and will get to know our institutions and create lasting connections with Kosovo beyond family ties. By creating a space within our institutions, we are investing in the future of Kosovo and in creating an authentic image of Kosovo for the international audience. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our minister, but also her two deputies, Kreshnik Ahmeti, Liza Gashi, the incomparable Sharri and many people who have worked so us to come here today on this very important day for diplomacy and the foreign service of our republic.
Our vision consists in having a more fruitful relationship and a more dignified Republic, through the exchange of knowledge and experience between diaspora and homeland, and through connections between the people we will mediate. The Citizen Diplomacy Program, is one of the first steps in this vision and as we are taking this step together will be the next steps in future successes.
Last modified: November 9, 2022