New York, 20 September 2026
During his stay in the United States on the occasion of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, met on Sunday with U.S. Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
Prime Minister Kurti thanked Congressman Lawler for joining the Congressional Albanian Caucus, as well as for co-sponsoring the resolution in the House of Representatives in support of Kosovo’s integration into NATO. He emphasized that the United States of America is Kosovo’s most important ally.
The Prime Minister briefed the Congressman on the latest developments in the country, including the vote of confidence in the new Government by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo on 13 September, as well as the Government’s readiness to resume the Strategic Dialogue with the United States, with a concrete agenda covering security, energy, investment, and the rule of law.
The excellent bilateral cooperation between Kosovo and the United States in the field of defence was also emphasized. They also discussed deepening economic cooperation and attracting U.S. investment to Kosovo, particularly in energy, technology, and manufacturing, as well as the role of the Albanian diaspora in New York as a bridge for trade and investment.
The meeting, which was also attended by Member of Parliament Shaip Kamberi, provided an opportunity for Prime Minister Kurti to brief Congressman Lawler on the situation of Albanians in the Presheva Valley. He emphasized that, after 25 years and four integration frameworks, the European Commission concluded in 2025 that the latest plan for the representation of Albanians in institutions had still not produced measurable results. He stressed that their representation in institutions remains significantly below their share of the population. The Prime Minister also raised the issue of the passive registration of addresses, which affects thousands of Albanians and has direct consequences for their right to vote and their ability to obtain identification documents, as well as the need to address this issue.
Prime Minister Kurti also spoke about what he described as the unjust judgment of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague against four former KLA leaders, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between what has been said and alleged and what has been proven and adjudicated by the court.
The Prime Minister said that the allegation concerning the “Yellow House” and organ trafficking, around which the bulk of the narrative preceding the establishment of the Specialist Chambers was built, was not part of the indictment at all, just as the allegation of crimes against humanity and widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population was not included. Prime Minister Kurti emphasized that the Kosovo Liberation Army’s war was and remains just and cannot in any way be tarnished. He added that the lack of transparency of the Specialist Chambers, from the beginning of its work to the present day, remains a matter of concern, as do the lengthy sentences following a judgment that, in his view, suffers from historical and factual inaccuracies.
At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Kurti invited Congressman Lawler to visit the Republic of Kosovo, together with a delegation from the U.S. Congress.
