Joseph: Citizens must punish leaders, parliamentary stalemate is damaging Kosovo

Joseph, in an interview for EO, said the prime minister in office is responsible for resolving the situation because of the majority controlling the Assembly, but added that responsibility does not fall solely on him.

“Absolutely. They have to do this. And if they don't, I'll say this: If political leaders and again, I'm talking plural, I'm not just saying that Prime Minister Kurt is responsible. He has the main responsibility because he controls the majority of votes in parliament, and that is a parliamentary decision, but they all bear responsibility. And voters, I will say, voters should punish all political leaders who do not find a consensus, because this is damaging the country”, Joseph said.

Speaking of the impact of the current political situation, Joseph contrasted the country's stability and democratic development, stressing that, according to him, Kosovo remains a stable state, but the current stalemate is not a good example for democracy.

These are two different questions. Stability is a question, while democratic development these are two different things. I don't believe this affects stability, and I don't want to say that, because I believe Kosovo is a stable country and a stable democracy. The Republic of Kosovo is such, and I support it, and I support Kosovo's entry into NATO, for which I have been one of the strongest supporters. As for democratic development, it's terrible. Clearly, the answer is clear. This is not a good example of democratic development. And we have to point out here, this is not like a typical parliamentary cramp, as Belgium once had a one-year-old deadlock, that's when you have a very close majority. But here you have a party that has a clear” capability, he said, broadcast Clankosova.tv.

The American professor also spoke of reports between Kosovo and the United States of America, naming the suspension of strategic dialogue as negative development and stressing that the Government of Kosovo has lost an important opportunity in relation to the Serb community.

There are differences. Of course, it was very bad to see the United States suspend strategic dialogue. And this is a confirmation of the message I gave, which is the recognition of all citizens in Kosovo, of all communities, including the Serb community, and the way the government treats them. And the government has an extraordinary possibility and there has been an opportunity it has not taken to say to the Kosovo Serb community: your “capital is in Pristina. Pristina cares about you. Belgrade doesn't care about you.” And they have lost this option”, Joseph said.

He also commented on the process in the Specialised Chambers at The Hague, saying there is no specific information about its course, but expressed concern that there may be a motivation, awareness or unconsciousness to issue a condemned decision against the accused.

Okay, sure, I don't have any specific information and nobody should think I have. I'm like everybody else, I'm just watching. I'd say I'm worried. I'm not going to make a prediction, but I'm worried there might be, knowingly or unconsciously, a motivation for this court to find a conviction for defendants. Because how else can they justify this very expensive and multi-year process, their high wages, their staff, all that support? So they have a big budget, and then you get former President Thaci, you get him out of office here and you take him up there, and you have nothing? There's no punishment? So I'm concerned that this may be a conscious or unconscious motivation”, Joseph said.