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Albin Kurti for VOA: The "Franco-German" proposal gives stability to the possible agreement with Serbia

2023-01-05 21:30:45Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Albin Kurti for VOA: The "Franco-German" proposal gives stability to
Albin Kurti

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, told the Voice of America that the European proposal for an agreement with Serbia includes universal concepts that make the agreement stable, but that, according to him, Belgrade has not given signs that it is ready to accept it. He reiterates that the agreement for the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is the only one that has not passed the test of the Constitutional Court, but he did not disclose any plan regarding the implementation of this agreement, the fulfillment of which has increased the pressure on him. In an interview with our correspondent in Pristina, Besim Abazi, Prime Minister Kurti, states that his government did not make any concessions to lift the blockades in the north of the country imposed last month by groups of Serbian citizens supported by Belgrade.

Voice of America: Kosovo left behind a challenging year, what do you expect the new year to be for it?

Albin Kurti:Of course, there will be challenges that we inherit from last year, but at the same time there may be new challenges. We are at a time when the European continent is in a war and on the other side our northern neighbor is connected more closely than ever and more widely than ever precisely with the Russian Federation, which carried out military aggression and invasion in Ukraine. On the other hand, within our country we have had undeniable successes, for 17 countries we have risen to Transparency International regarding the fight against corruption, then also regarding the freedom of the media according to Reporters Without Borders and also for the second time we are the first in The Balkans in terms of the rule of law and the second in the world in terms of improvement in the rule of law. We have moved from group C to group B in terms of governance focused on digitization, we applied for membership in the Council of Europe on May 12, in the European Union on December 15, and we are preparing to apply for membership in NATO. The image of Kosovo has improved and this has influenced that from January 1, 2024 there will be no visa regime in the "Schengen" area for the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo. The 2023 budget is the largest in the history of Kosovo, 3.2 billion which is 17 percent higher than last year's budget and the economic growth is 4 percent after removing inflation, we have not stopped this growth for the state but we distributed it in society. The economic revival package was somewhere around 4 percent of the gross domestic product in 2021, and in 2022 we added to this package the package to deal with inflation, totaling around 5 percent of the gross domestic product. We also had the university for the first time free for all students, that is, without any payment except for those who do a doctorate, both bachelor's and master's is free in the public university. At the same time, we have continued with help and support for pregnant women and children, now for all children up to the age of 16, that is, under the age of 16 they will receive child allowances and around 30,000 pregnant women or mothers of young people also receive financial support from the government, in total there are about 260 thousand beneficiaries. Even in terms of energy this past year we had a very big success with the Millennium Challenges corporation, grant of 202 million dollars – compact program and also 105 megawatts with the wind park in Selac and 70 megawatts with the solar park for heating. Energy efficiency is rising, in which case we subsidized families who used devices that save electricity, in November of last year households spent 15 percent less than a year earlier. Therefore, in many aspects we are better and I believe that the successes will continue in 2023, but there will undoubtedly be difficulties.

Voice of America: The difficulties come in a way inherited from the year we left behind and the tensions that permeated the second half of 2022 as if they culminated in the north of Kosovo in December. They were eased, at least temporarily, with the lifting of the blockades. How was such a thing possible, what did you offer in exchange for their removal?

Albin Kurti: We offered our kindness to KFOR, which asked for a little more time to remove them without the intervention of our police. Our police would intervene before the new year if the barricades were not removed. We gave KFOR the time it requested because of course it is better to remove them without intervention. So it's not that we were happy about the police intervention, we wanted KFOR, which for 23 years has continuously affirmed freedom of movement, to ensure it, and it was a good thing that those who put up the barricades also removed them. My strong conviction is that out of fear they put them in and out of fear they removed them.

VOA: So there was no agreement?

Albin Kurti: There was no agreement.

Voice of America: But was there communication during that time Mr. Prime Minister?

Albin Kurti: It happened with the American embassy, ​​it happened with the ambassadors of Quint and especially with KFOR and EULEX, but we did not offer anything in exchange except extra time for KFOR. Also, it was clear that those barricades were erected by the illegal structures of Serbia that turned into criminal gangs at the very time when we agreed to postpone to April 2023 the elections in the four municipalities in the north. So, in a way, right when we made a concession, they put up the barricades because they were left with no pretext.

Voice of America: During the second part of last year, you discussed several times with the international community, especially with American diplomacy, requests were made for postponement, you initially refused, then, as the opposition says, you finally agreed, damaging even the relations with American diplomacy. Why did this happen Mr. Prime Minister?

Albin Kurti: We were asked to postpone for 12 months or 10 months because the one-year period according to the Brussels agreement they said has not been consumed yet, but this is not true. From the middle of January 2018, license plates KM, PR, GL and others from the time of (Sllobodan) Milosevic, should neither be produced nor issued nor renewed. Therefore, the position of the government of the Republic of Kosovo is that the 12-month period of this agreement on license plates that was made in Brussels has expired, so we cannot accept these deadlines which have already expired. On the other hand, we were told that we should give it 12 months because we did not inform enough with our campaign. I believe that this does not hold either, some videos were made by different members of the government, campaign on our televisions and I don't believe that anyone was left uninformed. We were asked to make this postponement at the time when the cars of Serbs who converted KM license plates to RKS ones that are legal and legitimate were burning, so somehow we could not accept that the state is failing in the efficiency of issuing RKS license plates to those that they want us to convert and on the other hand we could not accept an alternative explanation for the Brussels agreements. What have we done? We have not canceled our decision but we have sequenced and differentiated in its implementation, we started with the reprimands - close to two thousand reprimands and no complaints and no incidents and we did not do the fine after that because we agreed to give it a deadline until the spring of next year the agreement for full normalization of relations, which will focus on mutual recognition. So it was not a cancellation of the decision but a sequencing and differentiation in implementation, it is still there and shows the good will of the government of the Republic of Kosovo, we are the government of a sovereign state.

Voice of America: But during this period when tensions often boiled over, were there moments when you might have said 'it wasn't worth it for the license plates to make the situation so tense'?

Albin Kurti: I do not believe that I have had any such moment because I do not expect this autocratic Serbia, which does not distance itself from the past - Milosevic, nor from the present - Putin, to change its approach to Kosovo. Therefore, I do not believe that we should find defects within ourselves, we should understand that in the north we have an enemy state which does not change the Constitution and which is very aggressive towards our country with those 48 offensive bases, 28 of the army and 20 of the gendarmerie. It would be a big mistake if anyone in Kosovo now tries to enter the thesis of self-blame, when we have a pro-Russian and aggressive Serbia like never before.

Voice of America: But you had requests from American diplomats who have given strong guarantees for the security and sovereignty and independence of Kosovo, but who required certain deadlines, for example Mr. (Derek) Chollet, who at one point expressed his disappointment that you didn't hear it.

Albin Kurti: I am the prime minister of the government of the Republic of Kosovo and President (Joe) Biden has said that the government of Kosovo is the government of a sovereign state. The partnership, alliance, cooperation with the United States of America has never been violated, it has not been endangered, on the contrary, but you must understand that the United States of America, in addition to recognizing us, also mediates between Pristina and Belgrade, and in this sense often they also come with a request which is presented as an idea for compromise. If we consider it reasonable as a government, then we do it, but our right to decide for ourselves has never been disputed, after all, this is also the meaning of February 14, 2021, it has not yet been two years since the victory of the great democratic in post-war Kosovo.

Voice of America: But your critics, especially those from the opposition, say that there is a kind of punitive approach of the United States of America against your government. Do you feel this?

Albin Kurti: I don't feel that, on the contrary, I have regular meetings with the American ambassador every week and we are constantly in contact and in communication and we almost always agree, but not always, because I cannot represent the United States of America, the American ambassador and neither the secretary of state nor the state department can represent Kosovo. We are guided by American ideals, but this is Kosovo and we must protect our country, our people, our history even more than anyone else does. So, we cannot expect that the United States of America will defend Kosovo in the discourse even more than we ourselves, on the contrary, we should ask for Kosovo even more than anyone else, even more than the United States of America .

Voice of America: Mr. Prime Minister, tensions in the north fueled concerns about renewed conflict between Kosovo and Serbia. Have you been afraid, has there been fear and danger from such a thing?

Albin Kurti: I'm not afraid. I'm worried, I'm careful, I'm worried because this is part of my job description, but I'm not afraid?

Voice of America: But was there a risk?

Albin Kurti:Yes, there is a risk. There is a risk, because it is Serbia. Not because it's me. The danger is because Serbia is on the other side, which has not repented of its crimes, does not change its attitude towards Kosovo, and in the year that we just left behind, made three very important agreements with Russia. The first one is for the purchase of the cheapest gas in Europe, the second one is for coordination in foreign policy between (Nikola) Selakovic and (Sergey) Lavrov in New York on the margins of the UN AP. And the third is that the most pro-Russian man in Serbia, the most pro-Russian politician in Serbia, was carried by the head of the secret service, Aleksandar Vulin, otherwise known as the vice president of the party of (Slobodan) Milosevic's wife. I mean, I don't know what else needs to happen to understand what kind of Serbia we are dealing with. And in this situation, we must stand together against a Serbia that is more aggressive and hostile than ever before since we declared independence, instead of looking to find imperfections within the long-suffering Kosovo, which is finally developing economic and democratic, despite not recognizing Serbia. So we want mutual recognition, but while we don't have mutual recognition, we need to develop.

Voice of America: Mr. Prime Minister, American diplomats, especially after the crisis in the north, said emphatically that all agreements so far must be fulfilled, with special emphasis on the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority, calling on you to start negotiations for the implementation her. Has your government taken any steps for it? I know you said that you have nothing new about this association, but what is new is that the pressure is concentrated on it. Have you taken any steps?

Albin Kurti: In the decade before I became prime minister, 33 agreements were made in Brussels. Only one has not passed the test of the Constitutional Court. And that is exactly what Serbia insists on. Serbia has not implemented two-thirds of the agreements, although it has signed them. She insists only on this. However, you also saw in December, Serbia is not interested in the association of municipalities, but is interested in the association of barricades. It falls to the barricades to corner the municipalities. Article 80 of the Constitution of Serbia foresees association for minorities, but voluntary association of individuals in terms of culture and education...

VOA: Can you make such a model?

Albin Kurti:Yes. I told them in Brussels. Because the president of Serbia praised how minorities are treated in Serbia. While we know about the ethnic cleansing that takes place in Medvegja, but also in Bujanoc and Presevo, with the elimination of addresses. If they believe that the minorities are behaving very well, we are taking their model - it is the National Councils. The National Council of Albanians, Bosnians, Hungarians and so on. On the other hand, in Kosovo 92 percent are Albanians, the minorities are 8 percent and let's not forget not only Serbs. We have Bosnians, Turks, Ashkali, Egyptian, Roma and Gorani. All of them accept independence. Even the overwhelming majority of Serbs accept independence. Those who are on the payroll of Serbia do not accept independence. But they are the minority of the Serbian minority. While in Serbia, about 80 percent are Serbs, about 20 percent are not Serbs. So we have much less minorities than Serbia. And we are taking their model with the National Councils in Kosovo as well. Reciprocity is the sound principle of good neighborly relations. On the other hand, if they believe that the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, which was largely written by the former president (Martti) Ahtisaari, as a mediator with many privileges for the Serbs, we have the articles from 57 to 62 of the chapter of third for the minorities, let the Constitution of Serbia be changed and let them receive these six articles. So since we have rights for minorities, let them do it in Serbia. Are we making that article 80 theirs, the National Councils of minorities, or let them take these six articles of ours. And we are taking their model with the National Councils in Kosovo as well. Reciprocity is the sound principle of good neighborly relations. On the other hand, if they believe that the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, which was largely written by the former president (Martti) Ahtisaari, as a mediator with many privileges for the Serbs, we have the articles from 57 to 62 of the chapter of third for the minorities, let the Constitution of Serbia be changed and let them receive these six articles. So since we have rights for minorities, let them do it in Serbia. Are we making that article 80 theirs, the National Councils of minorities, or let them take these six articles of ours. And we are taking their model with the National Councils in Kosovo as well. Reciprocity is the sound principle of good neighborly relations. On the other hand, if they believe that the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, which was largely written by the former president (Martti) Ahtisaari, as a mediator with many privileges for the Serbs, we have the articles from 57 to 62 of the chapter of third for the minorities, let the Constitution of Serbia be changed and let them receive these six articles. So since we have rights for minorities, let them do it in Serbia. Are we making that article 80 theirs, the National Councils of minorities, or let them take these six articles of ours. which was largely written by the former president (Martti) Ahtisaari, as a mediator with many privileges for the Serbs, we have articles 57 to 62 of the third chapter on minorities, let the Constitution of Serbia be changed and let them receive these six articles. So since we have rights for minorities, let them do it in Serbia. Are we making that article 80 theirs, the National Councils of minorities, or let them take these six articles of ours. which was largely written by the former president (Martti) Ahtisaari, as a mediator with many privileges for the Serbs, we have articles 57 to 62 of the third chapter on minorities, let the Constitution of Serbia be changed and let them receive these six articles. So since we have rights for minorities, let them do it in Serbia. Are we making that article 80 theirs, the National Councils of minorities, or let them take these six articles of ours.

Voice of America: But these issues are not part of the agreements, they are not part of the trunk that was voted in the parliament of Kosovo. The association is. There is a decision of the Constitutional Court and American diplomats are saying that it must not affect the Constitution nor the functionality of the state, but it must be done and there are models in the world without affecting the legality and constitutionality of the country. Is there a solution or do you have a pattern?

Albin Kurti:I understand you, you are talking about the ratification that was made in June 2013 of the agreement of April 19 of that year. However, that agreement, it is interesting, also has the 14th point which says that Kosovo and Serbia will not hinder each other in terms of European integration. Serbia has violated this point. On December 15 in Prague, Czech Republic, I submitted the official application of the Republic of Kosovo to join the European Union. The President of Serbia wrote letters to the EU countries, in particular the five unrecognized countries, against Kosovo's membership in the EU. So, that agreement that Serbia is so fond of, it violated in the third week of December.

Voice of America: Mr. Prime Minister, important visits are expected in Kosovo next week, including the advisor of the American State Department Chollet, but also the American European envoys, as well as the envoys of France and Germany, and it is expected to be a new period of efforts in light of the proposal that became known first as the Franco-German proposal for the normalization of relations between the two countries. You have described it as a good basis for discussions, but is it a good basis for solutions?

Albin Kurti:Of course, the discussions should lead to a solution, I especially liked the fact that this is not an agreement that is made within the let's call it the ideology of solving problems, where we consider each unique problem within Kosovo and then by agreement complicated with an ocean of details that no one is interested in knowing the details of. I have welcomed the fact that we have notions, universal concepts as an introduction to this proposal, territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence, equality, the rule of law, democracy, self-determination, so all these are mentioned there and the universal language not only adds to the principle but also gives the sustainability of the agreement. It seems that this has hindered Belgrade the most and precisely to seal the rejection of this proposal they resigned from the institutions in Kosovo north of the Ibri and with these barricades on one side they wanted to territorialize the issue within the nostalgia for the so-called territorial exchange that has failed as a project but not dead as an idea, and on the other hand they wanted to stifle the political pluralism of the Serbian community which is actually being born with Nenad Rashiči and Rada Trajković. If you look at the media in Serbia, these two people are almost even more hated than me, so it is a constant effort of Serbia to not allow their pluralism. I believe that this effort of theirs also led to the murder of Oliver Ivanovic five years ago. I consider that the Franco-German or European Union proposal, supported by the United States is a good basis, but from the meeting of the Security Council in Belgrade at the beginning of November, their foreign minister, otherwise the spokesman of Milosevic's party, came out and said that we rejected such a proposal . I believe that we should all deal with them and not with me and with the sequencing and differentiation of the implementation of the license plate decision.

Voice of America: However, there is an impression that the pressure is more concentrated in Pristina and less in Belgrade.

Albin Kurti: I also have the impression that the bad things that Belgrade continues to do should have a much greater pressure there and why it is not happening like this, I believe that I should not have to answer.

Voice of America: Mr. Prime Minister, however, the Franco-German proposal does not mention mutual recognition, although in the past the United States has also said that a solution should be centered around mutual recognition, and now it seems that it has been left aside, as if it is not the time for a such a thing. Didn't they make this proposal more like an interim solution?

Albin Kurti: It depends on the negotiations, I don't think that the result can be known before the negotiations start, but the form of that result is known and the form for me is clear - complete normalization of relations because our relations are abnormal, with mutual recognition at the center . Now let's start the discussions and let's see, we want mutual recognition in the center, Belgrade wants the Association of municipalities as a prerequisite. But he loves the Association as a prerequisite, not because he loves the Association, but because he doesn't want the agreement, he doesn't want peace, he doesn't want the normality of our relations. We have shown readiness, willingness, and interest, we have been creative, constructive and committed, the reason why we do not have an agreement is in Belgrade.

VOA: When do you expect talks on this to begin?

Albin Kurti: In the month of January we expect to have visits from all the emissaries, the European, the American, from Berlin and from Paris, in which case I believe we need a new burst of dialogue for an agreement which was decided on the one hand as the first item on the agenda at the meeting on August 18 in Brussels, and on the other hand it was followed after three weeks on September 9 by the visits of the emissaries Lajcak, Bon and Plotner here in Pristina and then in Belgrade. Now it's up to them to step up their efforts as mediators that they are, I'm always ready and open.


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