Kurti appears at request for EU and NATO

“is shocking”, Kurti said during an interview this week in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

It's hard to believe what you see but no one can pretend to be surprised. ”

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kurti is calling on the US-led European Union and NATO military alliance to strengthen their southern wing in the Western Balkans by allowing faster membership in their blocs.

In this state of emergency we cannot normally behave”, Kurti said. “Therefore, even EU membership and NATO membership cannot be done in old ways. Brussels, as capital of NATO and the EU, to rethink a new way of expansion in the Western Balkans”, he said.

Kurti has long put pressure on bringing Kosovo into both institutions, but has faced resistance from a small part of the countries in both the EU and NATO.

Meanwhile, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Serbia are in different phases of the EU membership process.

However, some bloc members, including Spain and Greece, do not recognise Kosovo's sovereignty, effectively blocking any path to membership.

The same issue is blocking Kosovo's efforts to join NATO.

Putin “is unpredictable”

But in the face of Ukraine's Russian occupation, Kurti argues that now is the time to review old assumptions.

Moscow has been a fierce opponent of Kosovo since the war in the 1990s, when Russia's old ally, Serbia, saw its security forces leave the territory with the essential assistance of NATO air strikes.

Russia's position at the United Nations Security Council has blocked any chance that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008 will receive formal recognition that has angered Pristina.

With Russia now undergoing widespread sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, Kurti said it was the right time for a review by NATO and the EU ʹ in part to support support in Southeast Europe, where Russia remains influential.

The West had to take into account the nature of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he argued.

Russia's “president is unpredictable”, Kurti said. “He is the leader of war and not the leader of peace”.

Putin, he argued, “will use the factors and actors he controls even in the Western Balkans”.

Putin remains the most influential in Kosovo's rival Serbia, where President Aleksandar Vuciq has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine.

Because new conflicts will be aimed at, the Western Balkans in general and Kosovo in particular is at risk”, Kurti warned.

In the past, the Russian president mentioned us once a month. Now he mentions us several times a week”.

Spread in Ukraine

Just days after Ukraine's Russian occupation last month, Kosovo Defence Minister Armend Mehaj also called for accelerated NATO membership.

He also wanted a permanent American base on territory to replace peace, security and stability in the Western Balkans and beyond “.

Even with their minimum economic and political weight, Kosovo has offered its support to Ukraine, despite Kiev's long-standing refusal to recognise Kosovo's independence.

Last week, Kosovo condemned Russia's <x0 illegal, unprotested and untested” invasion in Ukraine, and plans are being launched to welcome thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the country.

We find many similarities to our situation before a quarter century”, Kurti said.

A much larger neighbor wanted to invade, print and discriminate against you by creating apartheid. ”