Kurti: Vuciq is acting as Putin is, Kosovo is his obsession with the north becoming Transnistria

Prime Minister Albin Kurti says “Belgrade has a pact with Moscow” and that “The EU must intervene”.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Kurti has again requested more NATO troops in Kosovo.

From Ukraine to Kosovo, “The enemy is the same: Putin. Serbia has agreements with the Kremlin to destabilise the region. The border between NATO and Russia is also here, in the Balkans”. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has submitted the EU membership application on 15 December. Today he breathes, after weeks of tensions and clashes in the north of the country, with the Serb minority establishing barricades. The memory of the war (1998-99) is very close, and very painful, to think of a new conflict. The ambitions in this plan seem to have only been postponed for a while later, before the April elections. Dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo is farther than ever. According to Kurt, because Belgrade opposes him. As a kind of rotating door from which Moscow wants to indirectly threaten the EU, writes the Torines newspaper

La Stampa: Prime Minister Kurti, your country, Europe's youngest, 15 years ago, is experiencing dangerous months for its stability. How do you plan to prevent an escalation?

Kurti: Our country has had a good year. We are evidence that democracy and economic development walk side by side, with growth 4%, exports +23, foreign direct investment +47. We've improved 17 positions on the Corruption Perceptions Index, the same as press freedom. We are in the first place in the Western Balkans for the rule of law. But relations with Serbia are not normal and we must normalise.

La Stampa: But an agreement between you and Serbian President Vuciq seems impossible. You're in a debate with tough questions and answers. To what point are you willing to go for peace in your country?

Kurti: The normalisation of relations should essentially have mutual recognition. Serbia must recognise Kosovo. I believe that last September's EU proposal could serve as a good basis for further discussions towards this democratic goal. There must be international pressure.

La Stampa: Also on your side, there should be a step towards Belgrade. The US envoy to Pristina, Derek Chollet, has attracted your attention, reminding you to respect the agreement on forming the Northern Communist Association in the majority of Serbs. Will you?

Kurti: My predecessors have negotiated 33 agreements in ten years in talks in Brussels. One of them is the Association of Serb-run municipalities. The only agreement that failed in the test of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo. So we find ourselves in this difficulty. I think Kosovo guarantees the highest level of minority rights. Especially for the Serb minority. Our state is made up of 93% Albanians, nearly 5% Serbs, the rest are Bosniaks, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Turks and Gorani. We unilaterally apply the principles of our Constitution written by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari in the period prior to the Declaration of Independence. It's about the highest European standards. An ethnic association of municipalities conflicts with the spirit of our Constitution.

La Stampa: Belgrade speaks of serious discrimination against its population. Is there any truth?

Kurti: Belgrade insists on this point because it does not want to have an agreement. I cannot compensate Serbia for losing the war in 1999. In reality, what it takes is for Serbia to recognise its crimes in its later history, to distance itself from its past, Milosevic, and from its present, Putin. As far as I'm concerned, as prime minister, I'm here for the needs of Serbian citizens. Kosovo should be a multiethnic and sovereign society. I think it's time to find a dialogue with Serbia. But from the EU's proposals, rejected by Belgrade last October 27th, they want to reveal only what suits it.

La Stampa: What role is Russia playing in the Balkans?

Kurti: Kosovo is Putin's obsession. Vuciqi, in the 1990s, had as slogan “Serbia's Great”, while now has changed it to “Serbian World”, imitation of Russian expression Russkiy Mir. Belgrade is the most close and stronger customer regime with the Kremlin. Serbia again wants Greater Serbia, wants Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, wants to transform Montenegro into Ukraine and want to take Kosovo's north. When it comes to the Association of Communities, it's not about the rights of Serbs, it's about territorialisation of rights. A mentality similar to that of despotic President Putin.

La Stampa: Vuciq, however, is demonstrating with statements he wants to distance himself from Moscow. Are you thinking of playing a double game?

Kurti: Serbia has made a choice. It has signed three major agreements with Russia -- in May, for the cheaper price of gas in September, with the agreement between former Foreign Affairs Minister Sakkovic and Russian Minister Lavrov in New York to sync foreign policy. Recently, the most pro-Russian Serbian politician, Aleksandar Vulin, former vice president of the party led by Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovovic, is now Serbia's intelligence chief. There are those who don't want to see, that's very clear to me.

La Stampa: Do you think the EU is doing enough to avoid a Russian presence in the Balkans?

Kurti: The EU must be clearer and more determined. Serbia has not imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation, did not condemn Ukrainian aggression, and the Serbian Orthodox Church is in the same line as Kiril. So I think the EU should be bold. Thii tells the truth to Belgrade and act on the results. The EU should not be neutral towards a state that is not neutral towards Russia”.

La Stampa: What are the dangers?

Kurti: The concrete danger is that 48 operational bases are located around the Kosovo border on the part of the Serbian Army and the gendarmerie, less than 5km from us. That is where the Russian Night Wolfves (a motorcycle band near Putin St. Red, and also mercenaries and Wagner paramilitary. He's got pictures of them. They were also present at the barricades in the north. Those 16 barricades were Wagner barricades”

La Stampa: Are you afraid that the north of Kosovo will return to your crime?

Kurti: I think Serbia wants to be the small Russia in the Balkans, where Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the small Belarus, and Montenegro will become Ukraine. For northern Kosovo the danger is its transformation into Transnistria, such as Moldova. That's what they want: a part of the territory in Kosovo, but they still control it to undermine the country as a whole, but also Europe.

La Stampa: What do you expect from NATO?

Kurti: The border between Kosovo and Serbia has become the border between NATO and Russia. I think more NATO support is needed with more soldiers, including Italians, in Kosovo and support for our army.

La Stampa: What do you expect from Italy?

Kurti: Italy is the biggest neighbor of the Western Balkans. He's a partner and an ally. It should be more active and help us maintain lasting peace.

La Stampa: How do you see Kosovo after ten years?

Kurti: A month ago we applied for EU membership. In the past, the fastest to integrate were Sweden and Finland in three years. Cyprus and Malta, 14 years. I'd like to stay average for nine years. The EU is the political project and the most important historical process of peace and prosperity of the planet after World War II. We want to go in to help.