Kurti continues Thaci's criticism of the EU: We got a lot of stick shots, but not too many carrots.

Kurti unveiled Kosovo's views on the panel with the “theme Sticks and Carrots Still? Regition Management for Western Balkans and the EU” (And stick and carrot? Management the relationship between the Western Balkans and the European Union.

Part of this panel were the European Union's special representative for the Kosovo dialogue -- Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, European Forum Vice President “Alpbach”, Katarzyna Pisarska, Republic of Northern Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Alena Kudzko, director of the Institute G LOBSEC.

Prime Minister Kurti chose to open his speech, focusing on the importance of missing persons, not only because today is the International Day of Missing Persons, but because, as he said, sometimes our ambition to move towards the future is confused with our task of dealing with the past.

And especially on days like these, we need to remind ourselves and our allies that only by facing the past can we walk properly toward tomorrow. There is no other way”, he said.

Speaking on the theme raised on the panel, Prime Minister Kurti said he believes the EU has long won the hearts and minds of all Western Balkan countries and peoples, and that, as he said, can be seen in the race among the BP6 countries to enter the EU, as well as the frustration they face when they fail to move into the next phase in the integration process.

As far as conditioning is concerned, Prime Minister Kurti said the EU must act more ethically and fairly.

“The politics of sticks and carrots has not been very productive for Kosovo, since we have received many sticks, but not many carrots. More than a decade has passed since all members of BP6 have received visa liberalisation, while Kosovo is still waiting, isolated as in a ghetto, which brings much shame on both sides”, he said.

The inability to lift visa restrictions on Kosovo and open negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania, according to the prime minister, is also demonstrating the need to reform not only the enlargement policy, but also the EU decision-making system.

Kurti said the EU has to clarify five things in relation to the Western Balkans: create a new moment for reform and make enlargement more fair and fair, increase financing, take responsibility for our continent, increase synchronization between Brussels and Washington and complete the security umbrella. / Voice

Full word of Prime Minister Kurti:

Thank you for the invitation to speak at this important event.

I'm sorry about this online participation instead of being present there. I was forced to stay in Kosovo because of the worsening situation with COVID-19's Delta version. 36 deaths reported yesterday.

Today, August 30, it is the International Day of Extinction.

To this day, we have 1632 people in Kosovo who have disappeared vigorously during the last war in the country.

Finding the missing is never an easy task. But it's not impossible. Especially when we are faced with stubbornness on the other side. A stubborn one that invests more in uniting forces to hide mass graves, instead of helping open them, identifying corpses and continuing criminal investigations. Even within the framework of mass graves that have opened in Serbia, no criminal investigation has been conducted in our knowledge.

I chose to open my speech today by focusing on the importance of missing persons, not only because today is the International Day of the Missing, but also because sometimes our ambition to move toward the future is confused with our task of dealing with the past. And especially on days like these, we need to remind ourselves and our allies that only by facing the past can we walk properly toward tomorrow. There is no other way.

Now I want to start by directly handling issues raised on this panel, which is if the weather has passed the opportunity for the EU to win hearts and minds in the BP6 (6 Western Balkan countries)?

And the simple answer is no. A GREAT NO. This is because the Western Balkans have never been more integrated with EU countries than today. And there has never been more EU presence in everyday politics and decision-making, but also in the daily lives of citizens of the Western Balkans.

I believe the EU has long won the hearts and minds of all Western Balkan countries and peoples, and this can be seen in the race among BP6 countries to enter the EU, as well as the frustration they face when they fail to move to the next phase in the integration process.

So the question should not be whether the EU is doing enough to win the hearts and minds of the Western Balkans, but how is it exploiting this victory and risk losing investment gains for decades?

I say this because I'm concerned that there's going back to the main areas of democracy in some BP6 countries where we thought progress was irreversible.

And the answer here is also very simple. The EU is not doing enough compared to its capacities and opportunities. In view of these, the EU is the richest economy in the world. Its citizens enjoy the most advanced rights and benefit from the most advanced social programmes, but the EU must be more willing to share this prosperity with others.

In other words, the EU is not going to have the courage to risk “with BP6 just as it had the courage of “jeopardised” with Central Eastern European countries more than 15 years ago. And frankly they weren't that prepared. But today they are better than ever. That's the problem today. Understanding that the EU can reform from within and expand from outside at the same time. True, we are not members, but we are not even neighbours, as we are surrounded by EU countries.

As far as conditioning is concerned, the EU must act more ethically and fairly. The Politics of Chopsticks (ang. “stocks and carrots” has not been very productive for Kosovo since we received many sticks, but not many carrots. More than a decade has passed since all members of BP6 have received visa liberalisation, while Kosovo is still waiting, isolated as in a ghetto, which brings much shame on both sides.

On the other hand, others have taken many carrots as they move far away from the EU path. Such is the case of Serbia, which received visa liberalisation, the SAA, candidate status, opening negotiations, and has opened 18 chapters -- all within a decade, while constantly turning back on key democratic principles. How is that possible, only those on the EU Commission who use sticks and carrots know it?

Moreover, the inability to lift visa restrictions on Kosovo and now open negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania is also demonstrating the need to reform not only EU enlargement policy, but also the EU decision-making system.

To complete this brief entry, I think the EU has to clarify five things in relation to the Western Balkans.

• First, to create a new moment for reforms and make enlargement more fair and honest. To that end, we should advance to a new regional agreement that we recently called SEFTA, which would be modeled inEFTA- EEA. This new agreement would boost integration and economic co-operation and remove barriers between BP6 countries and between BP6 and the EU, thus bringing the region closer to the EU's single market area and full membership. Something everyone benefits from.
• Second, increase funding. IPA 3 is promising, but the biggest economy on the planet can do more and should do more. The financing should be fairly distributed in accordance with each country's need and conditioned with real and meaningful progress in democratisation, such as rule of law and human and civil rights. Such funding would be aimed at employment of young people, education and infrastructure.
• Third, take responsibility for our continent. This is a crucial task for an economic power. The EU must assume responsibility within its continent in order to project power on the world stage. BP6 is Europe and the EU must increase its presence and protect the continent's interest against third competitive actors who do not share the same values. The EU must be protected and preserved. The inclusion of PB6 helps to this end.
• Fourth, to increase synchronization between Brussels and Washington. When they are together, the EU and the US are a power matchless in all respects. In recent years we witnessed the damage that could be caused when Washington and Brussels do not speak out in crucial issues alone. The BP6 countries rely on the Transatlantic Alliance.
• Fifth, close the security umbrella. That means including all BP6 nations in NATO.

Thank you.