Pristina, October 6, 2022
The speech of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, at the reception for the members of the EU Council Committee on Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management in Kosovo, organized by EULEX and the Embassy of the Czech Republic:
Honorable members of the EU Council Committee on Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management in Kosovo,
The honorable head of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark,
The Honorable Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Pristina, Mr. Pavel Bílek,
Honorable Ambassador of the EU, Head of Mission, Mr. Tomáš Szunyog
Dear friends, colleagues and partners,
Ladies and gentleman,
Thank you very much for organizing this reception. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Republic of Kosovo to our guests from the CIVICOM delegation.
I have been informed that the purpose of this delegation’s visit is “to evaluate the work of the EULEX Mission in Kosovo and to understand more deeply the situation of the rule of law and security on the ground”.
As the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, I am happy to report that after only one and a half years in office, we have made great progress in these areas. Last year, we improved 17 places on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and another 17 places on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index; and we are number one in the region in terms of rule of law according to the World Justice Project. During our current mandate, we have also carried out about 800 police operations against economic crimes and corruption and have arrested over 2,000 people, including about 300 public or state officials. We broke up 68 criminal gangs and confiscated over 1.7 tons of illegal drugs.
In the wake of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation this year, Russia has increased its efforts to destabilize the security situation in Kosovo, especially in cooperation with Serbia, its close ally in the Western Balkans. Our government has responded accordingly by intensifying our cooperation with NATO, the EU, the US, the Great Britain and the key European allies. We have also doubled the funds for the Kosovo Security Force. And we have introduced an economic package to fight the subsequent inflation, and today we started with measures to subsidize energy efficiency as well.
I know your job description uses the phrase “crisis management”. As the crisis has become a multiple crisis, perhaps we need to move boldly from management towards the solution. So, the solution to the multiple crisis that we together face
The government and the people of Kosovo believe in the EU and we think that the EU should have great ambitions for the Western Balkans and for itself. The EU must progress, we all must defend the EU and the EU must be enlarged.
We have also taken steps to increase dialogue with the Serbian community, and other non-majority communities in our country, in order to integrate them as full and equal participating citizens of our country. The rights of our minorities are protected and will continue to be. We say that equality for all is necessary in order to have a healthy democracy. There can be no democracy, without human rights, without equality and without pluralism. The rule of law, economic opportunities and social justice will unite all citizens and communities in an inclusive society, regardless of ethnic background or religious affiliation.
In addition to these successes in our internal affairs, Kosovo has also shown that it is committed to contributing to international security. We enthusiastically participated in Defender Europe 2021 along with 26 other countries and wasted no time in joining the US and EU sanctions against the Russian Federation. We have sheltered over 1,800 refugees from Afghanistan, we are currently sheltering 410 of them, while nine journalists from Ukraine are now residents of our capital, Pristina.
Finally, in addition to our progress in the field of rule of law and security, the Republic of Kosovo has shown extraordinary economic progress in this year and a half, even in the face of numerous global crises. Last year we closed with economic growth of 10.7%. And this year, in the first quarter, we had 4.9% of GDP growth. At the same time, we have ensured that our country’s prosperity is widely shared across our population. Among other initiatives, we have allocated subsidies for young mothers and children, and also increased pensions by 11%, including pensions for disabled persons by 33%. And for the first time, public higher education in our country is completely free of charge. All this shows that, despite what some autocratic governments, powers and superpowers in the world are desperately trying to prove, democracy and economic progress go hand in hand. In cooperation with our allies in the EU and beyond, my government continues to work every day to demonstrate this important truth.
Once again, I wish you a warm welcome and a very pleasant and productive stay in the Republic of Kosovo.
Thank you very much.
Last modified: October 7, 2022