Kurti at Euronews talks about the only management of Serbian municipalities: I expect no deal in Ohrid

The country's prime minister, Albin Kurti, has conducted an interview for European television, Euronews.

In this interview, he has talked about Kosovo's (Serbia) dialogue, as well as the upcoming summit expected to be held on March 18th in Ohrid.

Kurti has told Euronews that she is sceptical that the agreement will be signed next week:

We had to sign the agreement on February 27th. Unfortunately, Serbia's president did not want and for that, this basic treaty, which has been proposed by the EU, is a strong ground to move forward and we hope to finally reach it on March 18th,”.

What are your expectations for March 18th when will talks with Serbia resume?

The agreement was to be signed on February 27th. Unfortunately, the president of Serbia did not want to. To that end, this basic treaty that has been proposed by the EU 27 is a solid ground to move forward, and we hope to reach it finally on March 18th”.

I am going back to northern Macedonia with good will and confidence to normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo is a normal country, but does not have normal relations with Serbia. In the last two years, we have had unprecedented economic and democratic progress in our country, which puts us in the direction of the legal state and human rights and growth in the top of the Western Balkans”.

“However, I admit that we must normalise relations and, to this end, this basic treaty that has been proposed by the EU, is a strong ground to move forward and we hope to finally reach it on March 18th”.

Serbia is looking, for example, for Kosovo to meet the obligations of establishing the Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo. Do you think this part of the EU-brokered agreement is acceptable to you?

When Kosovo was declared an independent state 15 years ago, it was declared multiethnic societies, even though 93% are Albanians, 4% Serbs, and 3% are Turks, Bosniaks, Roma and Gorana.

Our “Constitution, which is essentially written by the former president of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, does not allow a mono-ethnic entity as an Association of Serb Major Communities. So this would not be passed to our Constitutional Court, as it would not in the past and would not be passed to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg”.

I am here as prime minister of all citizens, regardless of nationality, national identity or ethnic or religious affiliation. So I want to satisfy all citizens according to their rights and needs and requirements. But monoethnic solutions are not possible due to the laws of our democratic republic”.

Vetevendosje is disfellowshipped, are we talking about autonomy?

Therefore, we are talking about self-awareness of the Serb community. [It's in] Article 7 of the Base Treaty, which we approved, and the self-advancing of the Serb community also refers to the Council of Europe as an organisation, which means that we should refer to the Framework Convention for the Protection and Rights of National Minority.

“I think that we can do the same in Kosovo, where we would not fall into territorial ethno-nationalistism as it was in Bosnia. ”

Here, the Kosovo prime minister referred to the Republic of Serbia, an opposing entity that was formed in 1992 at the beginning of the Bosnian War to protect the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbs.

But we can move towards EU integration by respecting each individual regardless of our background, taking into account the features of ethnicity and culture. [We have to consider this] self-enforcement, as a protection of rights, not as a territorial position for rights, which would divide and single communities”.

Self-awareness means organising and a network of different representatives of this minority, such as the Serb one, which co-operate openly together.

I see “I see the self in full function, not in a territorial position”.

Have you had any sign from the Council of Europe that you could get the green light soon to join?

The overwhelming majority of Council of Europe members are positive in terms of Kosovo's application, and I hope that we will now speed up procedures to have the final vote there to join the Council of Europe. It is very important to us because it would be more useful for citizens themselves than for the country.

The “for us is very important because it would be useful for citizens themselves, even more than for the country, because even in this dialogue with the president of Serbia in Brussels, I always stress that normalising relations should have citizens as their final beneficiaries”.

After Russian aggression against Ukraine, we have seen increasing tensions in this part of Europe. What is the report, according to you, with the war in Ukraine?

Russia's <x0vasion and military aggression in Ukraine was shocking, but not surprising, because we have seen President Putin in recent years move from a politician complaining about the collapse of the Soviet Union to a politician who is nostalgic to the Russian Empire. ”

When you added troops around Ukraine, it was clear that the attacks would arrive. In my opinion, the war in Ukraine will determine not only the security of our continent but the future of the world in this century”.

So, in Ukraine, it's not just a national liberation war of Ukrainian people, it's also a first line in which democracy, freedom, human rights. There have been some effects on Kosovo; the immediate effect was that it caused the trauma of the people from Milosevic's Yugoslavia genocide”.

He was not recognized as a genocide by the court. If I'm not mistaken, they know war crimes, they know violence in the population, ethnic cleansing. But genocide had to do with Bosnia.

The genocide in Srebrenica has been recognised. I think it wasn't just 77, but I was here too. And what we were suffering was a genocide; they were killed and burned indiscriminately with women, children, pregnant women”.

Those responsible are judged?

The “for Kosovo has not yet been held trial. But what we had was a genocide”.

But is that not the international court's view?

The day will come when international courts will talk about it. Unfortunately, Milosevic died in The Hague, without seeing the day he was sentenced to”.

But why are you linking this episode to the war in Ukraine? Is that ethically moral, or is there political continuity?

When pressure was put on the importance of Russia's invasion of his nation, Kurti said: “here has two important elements. The first element is that in 2022, each week the Kremlin spoke of Kosovo. If Putin isn't, then Medvedev or Zakharova, or Lavrov”

Don't you feel protected by KFOR, NATO troops present in Kosovo?

“are 48 operational bases ahead of Serbia in the so-called land security zone around the Kosovo border, 28 are military and 20 are generals, where they have increased their units' combat readiness. And they also invited the Russian ambassador to Belgrade to inspect the regrouping of MiG 29 into the air when we had problems north of”.

“Imagine if your biggest neighbour (Serbia) does not recognise your country? Your neighbour then does not distance himself from either Milosevic or Putin. They share 3% of their GDP for military equipment and make sure their troops around the border are ready for combat. This cannot be overlooked”.

“Of course Kosovo is not in NATO. NATO is in Kosovo. We feel safe. We're not afraid, but we're very vigilant”

Do you expect any positive results in terms of mutual concessions on both sides?

We want normal relations. We understand that the full normalisation of relations should be at the centre of mutual recognition. I'm not saying that mutual recognition should be the only thing on the table. I'm willing to discuss all issues with patience”.

I don't want any kind of haste, no quick adjustment to the detriment of our security, peace and long-term stability. And again, in trust, with good will and purpose, I am willing to make this agreement, which has not only two factors, Kosovo and Serbia, but also the European Union, which is the framework within which we negotiate”.

The EU needs a major political benefit. Do you realize it's you who can give them this?

“Well, I can't deal with myself. I have to make a deal with Serbia, with the EU. And on February 27th, I was ready to sign”.

You can take a quick path, right, to join the European Union, don't you think?

When I treated the Prague app in the Czech Republic last December for EU membership, I said I didn't want a fast or backward road to membership. We need help from the EU, but we need to build [the desire to join] ourselves in the European Union as a value... So, I'm not very promed up the back door and fast trails”.

I believe the European Union is the biggest political project of peace and prosperity. Similarly, the historic process since World War II. I want to join, but I also want to contribute. The EU is helping on all fronts, but at the same time I want to help the EU, given otherwise the European Commission's progress reports on Kosovo from last October, which is the best so far, now without any turning back or without progress”.