Albin Kurti before Borrell spoke of past time in Serbian prisons

The characteristic of today's collection is the fact that this very day, 20 years ago, Kurti was released from Nis's prison in Serbia.

Kurti also indicated that he was arrested on April 27, 1999, only 34 days after the start of NATO bombings on Serbia.

On this day, two decades ago, I was released from Nis Prison in Serbia. I was arrested on April 27, 1999 in Kosovo, just 34 days after the start of NATO bombings on Serbia and its military and paramilitary targets to stop the genocide in Kosovo”, Kurti has said.

Kurti and Borrell did not fare well, as the latter criticised the prime minister a little and said he should focus on dialogue with Serbia.

And that came after the meeting was discussed on the subject of the Serbian Communist Association.

Of course, we're not here to do your jobs and that's exactly why we welcome Mr. Kurti and his government put a keen focus on rule of law, the economy, to focus on the people of Kosovo. We are determined to continue our efforts in the fight against corruption and organised crime and want to see more progress in this direction”, the European top diplomat said.

Below, find Kurt's complete speech:

On this day, two decades ago, I was released from Nis prison in Serbia. I was arrested on 27 April 1999 in Kosovo, just 34 days after the start of NATO bombings on Serbia and its military and paramilitary targets to stop genocide in Kosovo.

Twenty years later, many things have changed in the world, but we still find ourselves, and I find myself fighting for the same cause and facing not so different threats. The cause of a sovereign and independent Kosovo, which is now a well-known and denied reality by a little, and the growing threat from an aggressive neighbour.

And there is no better place than in this house of Europe and in this large European family to share these memories and to appeal for more awakening as we face a growing threat of autism.

honoured ones,

The Republic of Kosovo government welcomes the fourth meeting of the Stabilisation and Association Council between the European Union and the Republic of Kosovo. However, this is the first meeting of our new government in this format.

This meeting is an important milestone in implementing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in the function of launching the second phase of implementing political priorities within the European Reforms Agreement (ERA). We have already adopted the new ERA II plan with priorities coming from the SAA on October 4, 2021, which we have pledged to implement with high priority.

For us, the SAA is an important international agreement. Kosovo has so far shown commitment and effort throughout the wide spectrum of reforms and from all actors in fulfilling obligations emerging from the SAA. Therefore, we believe that the time has come for Kosovo and the European Union to speed up joint efforts to tackle more complex issues that have been obstacles to our journey towards the next phase of the EU integration process.

Now, more than ever, we have political stability, consolidation institutions and extraordinary will to do so, doing so more than an ideal goal, a realistic goal. To that end, we consider it critical for the prospect of EU membership that political dialogue, as required in SAA title II, is officially firm and fully functional in all spheres.

Kosovo is prepared to engage fully in this area of reforms, both in political terms and in terms of institutional structures and capacities. Moreover, in line with domestic reforms and in fulfillment of the EU's promised perspective, Kosovo aims to apply for membership next year.

We reiterate the strong conviction of the people of Kosovo that the future of our country is within the European Union. There is strong public support for EU integration among citizens and all political actors in Kosovo, as well as respect for EU values and willingness to launch reforms that bring Kosovo closer to full membership in the European Union. Europe is our continent and the EU is our destiny.

We believe that EU conditions should be right and related to real progress and motivate us all to bring Kosovo's path closer to the EU to citizens and make membership more realistic and sustainable.

The EU's failure to fulfil the promise after meeting the conditions undermines confidence in reforms and creates a sense of injustice that undermines confidence in the EU. So it is important that continued confidence among citizens manifests the benefits of being part of the EU with concrete actions starting with visa liberalisation, as trust is very necessary in any country that wants to start the difficult path of EU membership. It has been three years, four months and three weeks since the European Commission's second-time recommendation to abolish the visa regime for Kosovo citizens.

In addition to concerns caused by the pandemic COVID-19, for Kosovo and its citizens this has been an extraordinary year. We held two parties of democratic elections which were well organised and displayed the true colors of democracy. National elections produced a new majority in parliament and brought legitimacy and stability to our institutions.

The new government consists of well-educated, highly integrity-oriented and reform-oriented people eager to promote success. As a result, we have seen progress in all spheres. After a 3.1% contraction in 2020, reports by the World Bank, we are now experiencing tremendous economic growth. Our exports have increased by 66%, our revenues have increased by 30% and we have added about 10,000 new jobs to the economy.

We are also leading the Western Balkans with the highest average of vaccinated citizens, over 1.6 million administered doses, and with at least new cases of COVID-19.

As we have said many times, for us the EU starts from within, because the reforms needed to join the EU are also reforms required by our citizens to improve their lives.

Unfortunately, this cannot be said of the region where autocratia is growing and with it aggression against neighbours, a behavior to condemn, and we hope that the EU will send its clear message by not allowing membership progress in the process for anyone who dares to engage in such hostile activities. There is no European funds without European values.

We also regret that the four agreements under the Berlin Process and the Common Regional Market were not materialised due to unreasonable demands intended to block this initiative. We are fully committed to regional integration, and we believe that it is time for the end to deal with shortcomings in this area by considering a new basis that resolves disputes about terminology, envisions independent mechanisms for monitoring and implementation of new agreements and draws us close to the EU.

We have already proposed SEFTA (Southeast European Free Trade Agreement), modelled after EFTA- EEA, as an agreement that deals with all the above issues and opens the doors for progress.

Thank you.