Prishtina, 26 March 2025
First, I wish to share the same concern and distress as all of you here present and our fellow citizens regarding the four murders recorded in the past three days.
I invite the law enforcement, investigative, and judicial bodies to treat with the utmost seriousness the causes, circumstances, and predispositions of the perpetrators, so that justice is served and such cases are also prevented in the future. Murder is the gravest act one human being can commit against another. It must never be normalized. Murder is not only the taking of a human life, but also the destruction of the society to which that person belonged, i.e. our society. The entire country has been shaken and hurt by this series of murders, which must be stopped, brought to an end, and condemned.
We clearly need careful professional analysis, immediate institutional action, and societal reflection that addresses the violence we have witnessed in recent days. This is a call to all of us, to each and every one of us. All the more so because these murders occurred precisely in the week when we mark the 26th anniversary of the beginning of NATO’s bombing campaign in Kosovo to stop Serbia’s genocide, and we remember the successive massacres carried out by Serbia’s state apparatus aimed at exterminating the Albanian people. Together with colleagues from this meeting, I will proceed to Krushe e Madhe and Krushe e Vogel.
In my name and on behalf of the Government, I express the most sincere condolences to the families of the victims, and we stand by them in these difficult days. Meanwhile, we reiterate our call for the full engagement of law enforcement and judicial bodies.
Honorable Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Honorable staff of the Office of the Prime Minister and members of the media,
Dear citizens,
Welcome to this regular meeting of the Government, which we are holding on an extraordinary date. Today, four years ago, on 26 March 2021, our government – now marking its fourth anniversary this week, held its first working meeting. Since then, we have convened at least twice a month in this hall. In a total of 254 meetings, including electronic ones, we have adopted 2,257 decisions; each and always in the interest of citizens’ well-being, economic development, necessary reforms for progress, and the protection of the state and public interest. Between these meetings lie 1,464 days since the first day of taking office. Daily work from each and every one of you, with concrete results for every single citizen, was highly appreciated by them in the 9 February elections.
In confronting the pandemic, facing the energy crisis and inflation caused by the war in Ukraine, despite obstacles and discouraging delays due to opposition complaints before the Constitutional Court that blocked many initiatives including the price caps on basic goods, in spite of paramilitary and terrorist attacks and Serbia’s ongoing efforts to destabilize the country, and above the noise of late-night television debates, our government has achieved extraordinary results.
I will list just a few of the main achievements from this four-year term of ours together:
– Visa liberalization by the European Union, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan, and the recognition of the passport of the Republic of Kosovo by two non-recognizing states: Spain and Armenia. With us, there is both visa-free movement in Europe and no shifting of the border in the north.
– In the committees of the Central European Free Trade Agreement, or CEFTA, since October 2024, our Republic is, for the first time, represented by our institutions, not by UNMIK. Meanwhile, with the member states of the European Free Trade Association, or EFTA as it is known by its acronym, in January of this year, in Davos, we signed a Free Trade Agreement for goods and services.
– Public healthcare has become better, more affordable, and we have more services. We have transformed most of the clinics. Many vital services for citizens have been made free of charge, and most others are now offered at more affordable prices. In the upcoming mandate – which we look forward to – we will continue investing, hospital by hospital; we will build two new hospitals and six specialized polyclinics, and we will increase the budget for the Essential Medicines List, which is already at a record level, to up to 100 million euros.
– For the first time in our four northern municipalities, electricity is being paid for. Property tax has also begun to be billed in the northern municipalities, also for the first time. Illegal license plates and illegal driver’s licenses no longer exist, because they have been converted to RKS plates. Illegal structures have been shut down, because they are unlawful. There are now institutions of the Republic serving citizens without distinction, businesses registering with the Kosovo Business Registration Agency, and employment measures by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo for the residents of the municipalities there. Through the “Government for Families” program alone – which ensures that no family is left without someone employed – we have around 530 individuals employed in the north from the Serb community.
– For the first time as well, after a very long time, we have an increase in pensions. Pensions for over 300,000 beneficiaries have been increased by 20%. In addition to the regular increases, all pensioners have received supplements of 100 euros five times during our four-year mandate.
– Around 70,000 new mothers, also for the first time, have received allowances from the state, as have over 400,000 children of Kosovo. For children, we have doubled and tripled the allowances, and for two consecutive years we have allocated 100 euros at the end of the year. Because the well-being of society, especially of those citizens with the greatest needs, is our focus.
– We have increased public sector wages three times, while the minimum wage in the private sector has been raised twice, from 130 euros / 170 euros, as we found it, to 265 euros, and from 265 euros to 350 euros. In the next mandate, we will raise it again to over 500 euros. Poverty has decreased from 25.5% in 2021, when we assumed governance, to 19.2% in 2024, according to the World Bank. Unemployment has dropped from over 25% to under 11%. Both are following a downward trend. So, we are a democratic Republic where poverty is being reduced and unemployment is falling.
– We have provided 300 million euros in support for nearly 120,000 farmers and agricultural workers, and a 50% increase in agricultural land. From just over 81,000 hectares to over 121,000 hectares of land in Kosovo that is cultivated and has become agricultural land.
– The budget for the army has been tripled, treatment abroad has been quadrupled, and investments in armaments have multiplied, including the combat Bayraktar drones and the contract for operationalizing the Ammunition Factory. In the new mandate, we will allocate over 1 billion euros to the army. We will have an ammunition factory and military drones “Made in Kosova” – made by us. We have begun to purchase—unlike in the past—and unlike even now, we will also begin to produce what we have started to purchase.
– We have integrated the energy market with Albania, and we have made Albania our main trading partner in the region. With the United States of America, we have expanded and deepened our relations in the fields of energy and defense. The largest-ever grant from the U.S. – in the amount of 202 million dollars for the electrical energy battery system – was secured by our government. Through defense cooperation with the U.S., we have purchased the Javelin anti-tank missile system and will also purchase Black Hawk helicopters, or Skifteri i Zi as they are called in Albanian. Whereas last week, we took an extraordinarily important step for regional security and peace by signing a trilateral declaration in the field of defense with the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Croatia.
– We will organize the largest sports event in the country’s history – the 2030 Mediterranean Games – for which more than 250 million euros will be invested in sports infrastructure. In particular, intensive work will be carried out on the improvement of football infrastructure, with 200 million euros for over 20 stadiums across the country. Our country will have the best football infrastructure in the region, including the national stadium.
Honorable colleagues,
The Republic of Kosovo is strong and becoming increasingly vital. Serbia’s elections and referendums are no longer held in Kosovo as they used to be. Eight rounds of Serbian elections and one referendum were held since we declared independence and before we came into government. Since we have come into government, there have been no elections and no referendum. You clearly remember how, in June 2020, just 17 days after I left office, local elections of Serbia, not parliamentary, but local elections in Serbia, were held on 21 June 2020. Since we assumed office on 23 March 2021, there have been no Serbian elections, no Serbian referendums in Kosovo.
With the determination of the law, for the first time since the post-war period, we have established governance in the north of Kosovo. We have improved by 31 positions in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, thus achieving the best ranking and highest rating ever for our country in this index. According to assessments by the International Monetary Fund, we are among the countries with the highest growth in Europe. And as a rare and distinguished case, our country, our Kosovo, has gone from being a recipient state of the World Bank’s International Development Association for more than 15 years, to now becoming one of the countries that contribute to this agency. We are not a state that only benefits and consumes, but also one that produces and contributes, in the international bodies where we participate and where we are members.
Honorable members of the cabinet, colleagues and collaborators, dear citizens,
Thank you for your great work, tireless commitment, and continuous support. These four years of our mandate have been truly worthwhile for our Republic and for the citizens of the Republic.
And dear citizens,
I, and we, are especially grateful for the trust you have given us. There is no greater honor or privilege than to serve you, dear citizens of the Republic.
Thank you!
Last modified: March 28, 2025