Prishtina, 27 June 2025
Dear Deputy Prime Minister,
Honorable Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Esteemed staff of the Prime Minister’s Office and members of the media,
Dear citizens,
This week, the 34th NATO Summit was held in the Hague, the Netherlands. We welcome the conclusions of this summit and the unanimous decision of NATO member states to increase defense spending to 5% of Gross Domestic Product. We highly value the reaffirmation by member states of the commitment to collective defense, enshrined in Article 5, as one of NATO’s founding principles. We also welcome the decision to hold the 36th NATO Summit in Tirana, Republic of Albania, in 2027.
The Republic of Kosovo remains unwavering on its path towards NATO membership. The Government of Kosovo has increased and continues to increase its investments in defense and security, aiming to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Republic, as well as to contribute to European and broader security. In fact, today we added another 350 new recruits to the Kosovo Security Force, bringing the total to 2,700 new service members added during this term.
As you know, this weekend marks the feast of St. Vitus Day, or Vidovdan, which, although a religious observance, has unfortunately often been accompanied by provocative and threatening political rhetoric from Serbia that poses a risk to public security. Official Belgrade, currently facing continuous protests—especially from students—is attempting to deflect attention elsewhere. In an effort to downplay the scale of the anti-government and anti-regime protests scheduled for the same day in Belgrade, the Serbian authorities may exploit destructive elements to provoke incidents at Gazimestan.
According to assessments from our security and intelligence institutions, there are efforts to make the gathering at Gazimestan as large as possible. Groups of Serbs from Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been organized to come to Kosovo tomorrow. Traditionally, such groups have been provocative, displaying Serbian and Russian nationalist symbols that contradict the Constitution of Kosovo and also run counter to democratic and European values.
We call on all our fellow citizens—especially members of the Serbian community in Kosovo—to respect the law and not allow themselves to be misused for political purposes. We also call on all our compatriots not to fall prey to any provocation from anyone tomorrow.
Gatherings to mark Vidovdan must be organized in full accordance with the law and must not be turned into tools for political instrumentalization by the authorities in Belgrade, who seek to export their internal political crisis through provocations in Kosovo—only to then portray themselves as the so-called defenders of “national interests” and of Serbs in Kosovo, through propagandistic and clerical-nationalist narratives.
The institutions of the Republic of Kosovo are committed to guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of all communities and will not tolerate actions that jeopardize public order, security, or peace in Kosovo.
Meanwhile today, we are holding the 263rd meeting of the Government. Before us is the agenda, from which I would like to highlight two decisions:
Within the framework of the memorandum with the Albanian National Council, we will allocate €626,400 in support of education and institutional advocacy for Albanians in Presheva, Bujanoc, and Medvegja. This includes scholarships for students, support for pupils, and funding for lobbying and advocacy activities at the international level. During our term in office, we have ensured that our relationship and care for the Albanians of the Valley is both institutional and financial. Today's decision is further proof of this.
With the summer season, as we all know, our diaspora returns home. Their first welcome is at the border crossings. Like in previous years, starting from 1 July, all members of the diaspora traveling to Kosovo in passenger vehicles will be able to receive free vehicle insurance policies at any of the entry border points. This subsidized insurance will apply to non-commercial passenger vehicles with up to 9 seats. For this purpose, we will allocate €4,000,000 from the Diaspora Support measure of the Economic Recovery Package.
Dear diaspora members, welcome home, and thank you for bringing our country to life every time you return.
