Podujeva, 1 August 2022
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the activity “Caravan of the Diaspora”, which stopped today in the Municipality of Podujeva. This activity started a few days ago with the arrival of compatriots in their hometowns and is organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, as well as with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.
In his speech, in front of many compatriots, Prime Minister Kurti thanked those who, as he said, brought us together here near the memorials of heroes and martyrs, of those who gave everything so that we could live freely in our homeland, in our hometown.
Also, he especially thanked the emigrants who are never forgetting Kosovo, they are not forgetting Podujeva, and are coming here to meet their family, extended relatives, but also kind friends they have in their homeland.
“The Republic of Kosovo has 1.85 million inhabitants, there are about 2.5 million citizens. So it can be said that almost every third citizen is not a resident. We have a very large diaspora, and it has had a great historical role in politics, economy and culture”, said the Prime Minister.
Further, he said that thanks to our diaspora, we have financed the liberation war and today we have freedom, but also thanks to our diaspora we also have social peace because of the remittances it delivers. 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 with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and Deputy Prime Minister Donika Gërvalla, we have launched a campaign that is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, which is called the “Caravan of the Diaspora”, we started the dialogue with the diaspora and also the “Taste Kosovo” campaign.
We are interested in the children of our compatriots being welcomed as much as possible in Kosovo and using the vacation they spend here to learn Albanian better and to become more familiar with the culture of their parents, with the culture of their ancestors, he said.
Therefore, said Prime Minister Kurti, we believe that integration without assimilation is possible, and we will help you with this with our ministries. In particular, we have the “Citizen Diplomacy” program, because we consider that our compatriot is the greatest diplomat of Kosovo, every Albanian who is in the diaspora is our ambassador.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s full speech at the “Caravan of the Diaspora” event in Podujeva:
Thank you very much for bringing us together here near the memorials of the heroes and martyrs of those who gave everything so that we could live freely in our country, in our homeland. And, thank you especially to you emigrants who are never forgetting Kosovo, you are not forgetting Podujeva, and you are coming here to meet your family, extended relatives, but also kind friends you have in your homeland.
The Republic of Kosovo has 1.85 million inhabitants, there are about 2.5 million citizens. So, it can be said that almost every third citizen is not a resident. We have a very large diaspora, and it has had a great historical role in politics, economy and culture. Thanks to our diaspora we have financed the liberation war and today we have freedom, but also thanks to our emigrant we have social peace because of the remittances it delivers. According to the Central Bank of Kosovo, in the last 5 years, more than 4 and a half billion our compatriots have brought as remittances to their homeland. Meanwhile, the investments are more than 1.5 billion during these last 5 years.
So, dear citizens. Our compatriots in total have brought more than 6 billion euros for 5 years.
This shows what a great economic power they are for our country. We are interested in our compatriots not only coming here and contributing by sacrificing, but also benefiting by investing. Therefore, with the fight against corruption in Kosovo, there will be no more extortion or bribery. With the Development Bank that we will do, with the Commercial Court that we have established, we will create favorable conditions for our compatriots to do business not only in Western Europe, in America and as far away as Australia, but also here at home.
Together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and our Deputy Prime Minister, Donika Gërvalla, we have launched the campaign that is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, which is called the “Caravan of the Diaspora”, we have launched dialogue with the diaspora and also the “Taste Kosovo” campaign.
We are interested in the children of our compatriots being welcomed as much as possible in Kosovo and using the vacation they spend here to learn Albanian better and to become more familiar with the culture of their parents, with the culture of their ancestors.
Therefore, we believe that integration without assimilation is possible, so with our ministries we will help you with this. In particular, we have the “Citizen Diplomacy” program, because we consider that our compatriot is the greatest diplomat of Kosovo, every Albanian who is in the diaspora is our ambassador.
Even our Minister of Foreign Affairs has lived many, many years in exile, she is also the daughter of our national hero, Jusuf Gërvalla, so this is our chief diplomat as a compatriot of yours with many years in exile.
Therefore, I thank you for gathering today, we will always be together, we will always be by your side, and I wanted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gërvalla, to also address all of you with a special word.
Thank you very much.
Last modified: August 2, 2022