Kurti at Oxford: Kosovo can live and thrive without Serbia's recognition

Kurti at Oxford Union during yesterday, has declared that he can do so by testifying that Kosovo can flourish despite not recognising independence from Serbia.

“A strong and pro-operative Kosovo will help the Serbian people and their political elite understand that a policy of friendship to us serves their interests much better. That's why my government is focusing on developing our economy, reforming our justice system and strengthening our defence capacities. To be sure, I remain committed to dialogue facilitated by the EU with Serbia's current leadership. Serbia's recognition is always welcome and the sooner it comes to all of us in the Western Balkans. But, the Republic of Kosovo can, of course, live and thrive even without it being”, Kurti has said, broadcasts Klan Kosova.tv.

On the other hand, Western countries must also do their part to help social- and liberal-democratic forces in Serbian politics and civil society. In this regard, I feel that Western strategy has been somewhat wrong in recent decades. Although Western support that helped oust Milosevic in October 2000 is rightly hailed as a success story, from the perspective of the long-term Western strategy, it has been more a curse than a blessing”.

This is because it has encouraged Western allies of the progressive Serb forces to focus their help on short-term and project-based initiatives. I believe that this short-term perspective should be abandoned in favor of a more stable and long-term approach focused on values rather than on projects”.