23 minutes agoPhillips: US has sanctioned politicians even more powerful than Albin Kurti
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)Columbia University professor David Phillips said recent actions by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in the north are undermining Kosovo's interests, stressing that the US has sanctioned other Albanian political leaders and that the same could be done with Prime Minister Albin Kurti. He also [...]
Columbia University professor David Phillips said recent actions by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in the north are undermining Kosovo's interests, stressing that the US has sanctioned other Albanian political leaders and that the same could be done with Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
He also said that Gabriel Escobar's recent statements are clearly an invitation to Kurt to adjust more American demands.
Phillips, who runs the programme for rights and peace-building at the Institute for Human Rights Studies at Columbia University in the United States, said in an interview that Kurti would definitely have to listen to Allied advice, because that in no way would cent Kosovo's sovereignty.
He has stressed that politicians in Kosovo know they need US support to achieve their goals.
He recalls that the US has always supported Kosovo and encouraged other countries to support it, saying American officials should never allow relations with Kosovo to deteriorate to that extent.
“America needs Kosovo, and Kosovo needs US”, Phillips said.
Asked whether Kurti has erred in everything that has happened, Phillips has said his actions have not been wrong, but the way he has reacted recently is affecting Kosovo's interests.
He says more transparency and more consultations between Kosovo and its allies are needed.
Asked if Gabriel Escobar's statement that if the association is not formed by this government, the other will do so, it is a warning for Kurti's second decline in power, Phillips says it is a clear warning that Kurti will be more responsible to American demands.
Phillips says that the Government of Kosovo, with a “secretative approach to”, could implement the obligation to form association without executive competence.
The community is a way to decentralise power in the Kosovo regions, without violating its sovereignty”, the American professor added.
Regarding media reports that the US is considering sanctions against Kosovo and personally on Kurti, Phillips says it is clearly a form of diplomatic pressure, but says the US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on other more powerful politicians and can do so against Albin Kurti.
