Prishtina, 13 February 2024
Yesterday in London, United Kingdom, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the discussion panel organized by the “Chatham House” institute, in which he was one of the key speakers. The topic of discussion was the security challenges faced by the region, namely the Western Balkans.
In his introductory speech, he first spoke about the progress, achievements and policies of the government so far, and their result in increasing the well-being of citizens and facilitating the integration of the Serbian community in Kosovo. He singled out the fact that the liberalization of visas that entered into force on January 1 of this year has increased the interest of Kosovo Serbs in obtaining Kosovo passports, as well as the successful conversion to Kosovo license plates for cars from illegal ones of Serbia among the owners from the ranks of the Serbian community in Kosovo.
Regarding security risks and challenges, Prime Minister Kurti emphasized that Serbia’s strong alliance with Russia is not only a theoretical risk for Europe and the Western Balkans, but it is a real risk that Kosovo, but not only, regularly faces. He added that Russia’s presence in the Balkans is growing through Serbia, and that in this context an agreement signed between Kosovo and Serbia is more urgent than ever. The Prime Minister described the non-signing of the agreement as a clear sign of the lack of good faith, which is necessary to have legal certainty and implementation of what the parties have agreed on. Moreover, the prime minister emphasized that the refusal to sign the agreement also means that Serbia wants to leave open the option of invading Kosovo.
“Kosovo’s security and support for it is the basis on which our country can continue to grow”, underlined Prime Minister Kurti, as he said that Serbia, or any potential ally of Russia, cannot keep the region away from the EU because this would serve only Russia and its efforts to divide the continent again. Therefore, he said that an approach is needed from the EU which promotes the approximation of the countries of the region in the European Union on a meritorious basis, instead of the entire region remaining hostage to a single country. “Serbia with its authoritarian regime is holding the whole region back,” he said.
The discussion, which lasted about an hour, was moderated by the editor of “The Telegraph” newspaper, Danielle Sheridan. Other panellists, alongside the Prime Minister, were Andin Hoxhaj, lecturer at the University College of London (University College of London) and Armida van Rij, senior researcher at the “Chatham House” institute.
Last modified: February 13, 2024