Tag: Kosovo politics

Albin Kurti willing to calm tensions at upcoming meeting with Serbia

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Ahead of highly anticipated talks between Serbia and Kosovo on the 18th March in North Macedonia, Euronews reporter Sergio Cantone met with Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti for the latest episode of The Global Conversation.

The European Union expects the former wartime foes to reach a deal on how to normalise their relationship, after both countries endorsed an 11-point plan at the end of February.

But Kurti told Euronews he is sceptical that the agreement will be signed next week: “We were supposed to sign the agreement on the 27th of February. Unfortunately, President of Serbia did not want to, and to this end, this basic treaty which has been proposed by EU 27, is a solid ground to move forward, and we hope to finally achieve it on the 18th of March.”

Background: a long conflict

Kosovo has changed hands throughout history, being absorbed into Yugoslavia after the second world war, however in 1963 it became an autonomous province.

The large Albanian community in Kosovo repeatedly resisted incorporation into Serbia and Yugoslavia, given their status as a large non-Slav minority in the “land of the Slavs”, so in 1974, Yugoslavia granted six republics, including Kosovo, theoretical autonomy.

However, throughout the 1980s, tensions grew between the Albanian and Serbian communities in the province, with the Albanians favouring greater autonomy for Kosovo, while the Serbs favoured closer ties with the rest of Serbia.

In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic, then head of the Serbian community party’s central community, reimposed Serbian rule in Kosovo, prompting strikes and violence.

The conflict in Kosovo erupted when separatist ethnic Albanians launched a rebellion against Serbia’s rule and Belgrade responded with a brutal crackdown that prompted the NATO intervention.

Some 13,000 people died in the conflict, mostly ethnic Albanians.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising brought an end to repressive Serbian rule, however Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo’s independence, instead considering it a breakaway province.

Recent flare-ups between Belgrade-backed minority, the Kosovo Serbs, and the central government have sparked concern about a return to conflict.

EU intervention

So, after decades of conflict and tension, the EU hopes that upcoming talks will help relax the taught relationship between Serbia and Kosovo.

The European Union’s 11-point plan to pave the way for peace was begrudgingly accepted by both nations at the end of February, and does not commit Serbia to acknowledging an independent Kosovo, but it would recognise documents like passports, degrees and license plates.

A key point is that Serbia would not block Kosovo’s membership of international bodies.

The Global Conversation

What are your expectations for the 18th of March when a resumed talk with Serbia will take place?

Albin Kurti said: “We were supposed to sign the agreement on the 27th of February. Unfortunately, President of Serbia did not want to. To this end, this basic treaty which has been proposed by the EU 27, is solid ground to move forward, and we hope to finally achieve it on the 18th of March.”

He added: “I’m going again to North Macedonia in good faith with goodwill, to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo is a normal country, but it doesn’t have normal relations with Serbia. In these last two years, we have had an unprecedented economic and democratic progress in our country, which puts us in terms of rule of law and human rights and the growth at the top of the Western Balkans.

“However, I admit that we have to normalize relations, and to this end, this basic treaty which has been proposed by EU 27, is a solid ground to move forward, and we hope to finally achieve it on the 18th of March.”

Serbia is asking, for instance, for Kosovo to comply with the obligations of creating the community of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo. Do you think that this part of the EU-brokered agreement is acceptable for you?

Albin Kurti said: “When Kosovo was declared an independent country 15 years ago, it was also declared a multi-ethnic society, even though 93% are Albanians, 4% Serbs, and 3% are Turks, Bosnians, Roma, and Gorani.

“Our constitution, which was basically written by the former president of Finland, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martii Ahtisari, cannot sustain a mono-ethnic entity like association of Serb majority municipalities. So, this would not pass in our constitutional court, just as it didn’t in the past, and it would not pass in the Strasbourg court of human rights.”

He added: “I’m here as Prime Minister of all citizens, no matter what their nationality, national identity or ethnicity or religious background. So, I want to satisfy all the citizens according to their rights and needs and requests. But mono-ethnic solutions are not possible due to the laws of our democratic republic.”

Self-determination is excluded, we are talking about autonomy.

Albin Kurti said: “That’s why we are talking about the self-management of the Serbian community. [It’s in] Article 7 of the Basic Treaty, which we endorsed, and the self-management of the Serbian community also refers to the Council of Europe as an organization, which means that we have to refer to the Framework Convention on the Protection of the Rights of the National Minorities.

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

Here, the Kosovan President made reference to the Republika Srpsa, a contentious entity which was formed in 1992 at the outset of the Bosnian War to safeguard the interests of the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He continued: “But we could move forward towards EU integration by respecting each individual in spite of our backgrounds, also taking into consideration the peculiarities of ethnicity and culture. [We need to consider this] self-management, as a protection of rights, not as a territorial position on rights, which would separate and segregate communities.

Self-management means organization and a network of different representatives of this minority, like the Serbian one, openly interacting together.

Albin Kurti’s response was brief: “I see self-management in terms of full functionality, not in terms of a territorial position.”

Did you have any sign by the members of the Council of Europe that you can get the green light soon to join it?

“A vast majority of the members of the Council of Europe are positive regarding the application of Kosovo, and I hope that we are now going to speed up the procedures in order to have final voting there, to become members of Council of Europe. For us, it is very important because it would be beneficial for the citizens themselves even more than for the country.

“For us, it is very important because it would be beneficial for the citizens themselves, even more than for the country, because also in this dialogue with President of Serbia in Brussels, I always emphasize that the normalisation of relations should have citizens as their end beneficiaries.”

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

Albin Kurti said: “The Russian invasion and military aggression in Ukraine was shocking, yet not surprising, because we have seen the despotic President Putin in recent years moving from a politician who used to lament the fall of Soviet Union, into a politician who is nostalgic about the Russian empire.”

“When you also add the amassing of troops around Ukraine, it was clear that the assaults will arrive. In my view, the war in Ukraine will define not just the security of our continent, but the future of the world in this century.

“So, in Ukraine, it is not only a national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people, it is also a frontline where democracy, freedom, human rights are being defended. There have been several effects in Kosovo; the immediate effect was that it triggered the trauma of the people from the genocide of Milosevic’s Yugoslavia.”

It was not recognized as a genocide by the court. If I am not wrong, they recognized war crimes, they recognize violence in the population, ethnic cleansing. But genocide was about Bosnia.

“The genocide in Srebrenica has been recognised. I think it was not only in 77, but also, I was here. And what we were suffering was a genocide; indiscriminately women, children, pregnant women were killed and burnt down.”

Those responsible have been have been tried.

“A trial has still not been held for Kosovo. But what we suffered was a genocide.”

But this is not the point of view of the international tribunal.

Albin Kurti responded: “The day will come where also international tribunals will speak of this. Unfortunately, Milosevic died in The Hague in prison, without seeing the day when he would have been sentenced.”

But why are you connecting this episode to the war in Ukraine? Is that from a moral ethic point of view, or there is a political continuity?

When pressed on the significance of Russia’s invasion for his nation, Kurti said: “There are two important elements here. The first element is that in 2022, every week the Kremlin was talking about Kosovo. If not Putin, then Medvedev or Zakharova, or Lavrov.”

Don’t you feel protected by the KFOR, the NATO troops that are present in Kosovo?

“There are 48 forward operational bases of Serbia in the so-called ground safety zone around the border of Kosovo, 28 are military and 20 are general, where they have increased the combat readiness of their units. And they also invited the Russian ambassador to Belgrade to inspect the regrouping of troops with MiG 29 in the air when we had problems in the north.”

This Russian visit is concerning for Kosovo: “Imagine if your biggest neighbour (Serbia) does not recognize your country? Your neighbour then does not distance themselves from Milosevic, or Putin. They allocate 3% of their GDP for military equipment and make sure their troops around the border are combat-ready. This cannot be neglected.

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

Do you expect some positive outcome in terms of mutual concessions by the two sides?

Albin Kurti told Euronews: “We want normal relations. We understand that full normalisation of relations must have, as its centrepiece, mutual recognition. I’m not saying that mutual recognition should be the only thing on the table. I am ready to discuss all the issues patiently.

“I don’t want any kind of rush, any kind of quick fix to the detriment of our long-term security, peace and stability. And again, in good faith, with goodwill and intentions, I am ready to make this agreement, which does not have only two factors, Kosovo and Serbia, but also the European Union, which is the frame within which we negotiate and towards which we want to adhere.”

The EU needs a big political gain. Do you realize that you are the one who could give them this?

To this, Kurti replied: “Well, I cannot make agreement with myself. I have to make an agreement with Serbia, with EU. And on 27th of February, I was ready to sign.”

You could get a fast track, right, to join the European Union, don’t you think so?

Albin Kurti said: “When I handled the application in Prague in Czech Republic last December for membership of the EU, I said I don’t want a fast-track nor back-door track for membership… I believe the EU should be homegrown, not self-made. We need help from the EU, but we should build [wanting to join the] European Union as a value ourselves… So, I am not very much in favour of back doors and fast tracks.”

He added: “I believe the European Union is the most important political project of peace and prosperity. And likewise, historical process since the Second World War. I want to join, to benefit, but also to contribute. The EU is helping us on all fronts, but at the same time I want also to help the EU, keeping in mind the contrary progress reports of European Commission for Kosovo from last October, which is the best one so far without any backsliding or without progress.”

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Uneasy neighbours: Serbia and Kosovo need to mend fences after EU deal

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For once, Kosovo’s Serb and Albanian communities — historically found on disparate ends of any political issue — seem to agree on something.

The mood in their respective countries after Monday’s meeting in Brussels between Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was notedly sour.

“There were protests both in Pristina and Mitrovica ahead of the agreement. Everyone seems to be confused and let down by the process,” explains Donika Emini, a political analyst who has followed the developments between the two countries for years.

“The actual impact this document but also the negotiating process is going to have, the ways it could improve their lives, is unclear to the wider population so people are not sure how they should react to it at the moment,”  Emini tells Euronews.

Why is the relationship so fraught?

Kosovo and Serbia were wartime belligerents at the tail end of the bloody conflicts marking the disintegration of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and have been locked in an often-contentious dialogue masterminded by the European Union to resolve their differences.

Chief among the disputes is Serbia’s refusal to recognise Kosovo’s independence, declared in 2008. Serbia’s official line is that Kosovo is part of its territory — as it was for most of the 20th century — despite the country having its separate government and institutions for more than two decades.

“There was no scenario where Kosovo and Serbia would sit down and solve these otherwise fundamental issues. Even the most basic exchanges could not have taken place without international mediation,” says Vjosa Musliu, assistant professor of political science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Yugoslavia breaks up

The countries that gained independence after the fall of Yugoslavia, such as EU members Croatia and Slovenia, and candidate countries like North Macedonia, were also republics within the socialist federation. Kosovo was not.

“The war and the decade before it can not be decoupled from the anti-Albanian bigotry that has been present in Serbia for a long time,” explains Musliu. 

Ethnic Albanians were stripped of political and civic rights starting in 1989, as former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milošević gained in power, which lasted for a decade until the conflict erupted.

Then, in an unprecedented move that continues to spark debate to this day, NATO decided to launch an aerial bombing campaign on what was left of Yugoslavia at the time — Serbia and Montenegro — and Kosovo as Serbia’s province, too.

“The NATO bombing in 1999 removed Serbia’s control from Kosovo and installed an overarching international presence. It became clear that Kosovo was going to become an ethnic Albanian-run state, and this created further animosities and a sense of disbelief in Serbia,” Musliu continues.

“Second-class citizens would be granted rule over what Serbia considered the cradle of its nation,” she emphasised.

Deal brokered by Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Kosovo officially became a UN protectorate, and while it was allowed to have its own government and hold elections, the UN had the final say. They also tried to facilitate a precursor to the ongoing dialogue and come up with some sort of framework for Kosovo to become fully independent, which was eventually brokered by former Finnish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari.

The UN then passed the baton on to the European Union, who took over the dialogue and the facilitation of the Kosovo-Serbia relationship. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence — and the Ahtisaari agreement was embedded in its constitution.

“Once Kosovo declared independence, Serbia saw it as government policy to obstruct Kosovo’s existence as a state since it claimed it violated its constitution. This is how the frozen conflict we have today ensued,” Vrije Universiteit’s Vjosa Musliu says.

Bulldozer diplomacy returns to the Balkans

Monday’s meeting in Brussels was the culmination of months of negotiations, paired with not-so-subtle arm twisting from the United States and NATO, meant to produce an agreement that would bring the two closer to establishing diplomatic and formal bilateral relations than ever before.

“The ongoing war in Ukraine has made the unresolved issues in the Balkans a security priority for the US, and the US always reacts swiftly and strongly when they sense a major security issue,” explains Musliu.

Senior American diplomats focused on Balkan issues made several visits to the region. The EU’s Special Envoy Miroslav Lajčák has made at least 10 trips to Kosovo since September.

The European External Action Service, the Union’s foreign policy body, published the official agreement at the end of the day, despite being reserved about its impact in a statement right after the meetings.

“I hope the Agreement can also be the basis to build much-needed trust and overcome the legacy of the past. Much-needed trust,” the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security policy, Josep Borrell — also the official chair of the dialogue — told journalists.

“Further negotiations are needed to determine specific implementation modalities of the provisions,” he continued.

The reason for the muted response was the fact that while both parties accepted the final form of the agreement, they did not proceed with formally signing it as was expected by many ahead of the meeting. Now they will proceed with establishing what is being referred to as an annex to the agreement, or a roadmap that will lay out how its articles will be implemented.

Long-awaited reality check

The agreement includes important precedents, such as the fact that Serbia will not block Kosovo from applying for membership to international organisations such as the EU and the United Nations.

While Serbia has traditionally used its close ties to Moscow — it continues to not participate in sanctions against Russia for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine — for sway in the UN Security Council, Serbian president Vučić confirmed in a TV interview Tuesday night that the agreement does open the path for Kosovo’s entry into the global intergovernmental organisation.

“Yes, it includes it [UN membership]. That’s why I didn’t sign it,” Vučić said during an interview for the national public broadcaster RTS, widely considered to be strongly pro-government.

“I do not know why everyone is being so naïve. Did you wake up yesterday and realise the French and the Germans and the Americans are championing an independent Kosovo?” he asked.

Yet in Serb-majority parts of Kosovo, Belgrade has maintained a strong influence on the local population, including financing and maintaining its education and public health systems.

Many in the north of the country, where most of the ethnic Serbs reside, have called out Vučić for betraying them, including during protests held several times over the past months.

Yet for figures such as Nenad Rašić, a Kosovo Serb who is currently a minister in the Kosovo government and was personally attacked by Vučić for seemingly participating in the institutions of his opponent in the dialogue, this was a long-needed reality check.

“On one hand, we’re really happy it has come to this agreement, as long as it means there will be no more tensions,” Rašić tells Euronews.

Last summer, tensions peaked along the border between Kosovo and Serbia and roadblocks were set up preventing people from accessing the two countries by land. There were several incidents of shootings at police and the NATO peacekeepers, who have been stationed there ever since 1999.

“People who live in places that are more multiethnic in Kosovo or have the opportunity to regularly meet Albanians have not bought into the tensions,” explains Rašić.

While Rašić is careful to highlight that not everyone in Kosovo agrees with him, he says that the time has come for the delusion that both communities have lived in to come to an end.

“The problem is that for over 20 years, due to the fact that so many Serb-majority areas in Kosovo were isolated and functioned as enclaves or even ghettos, local Serbs have been cut off from the rest of Kosovo,” he said.

Since some form of Serbian government control and presence existed in these communities, an illusion was created that Serbia had a much greater role in Kosovo in the last couple of decades than it did, and that it could one day come back.

“Yet the reality is different. Those are the people who will be disappointed by the agreement. Others will breathe a sigh of relief,” he concludes.

For the Albanian majority in Kosovo, the idea that the agreement could lead to the formation of the Association of Serb Municipalities — or a body that caters specifically to the needs of the ethnic Serb population — has been cause for concern.

Some — including Prime Minister Albin Kurti when he was in the opposition and presented the dialogue with Serbia as an attempt for Belgrade to continue to maintain influence over its former province — believe it would be a compromise too far.

“There is this delusion that the Association is not going to be established. So the EU and the US made sure the Association was explicitly mentioned in the agreement to make sure Kosovo can not wrangle itself out of it,” said Emini, the political analyst.

“The lack of readiness from the Kosovo government to have the necessary, sobering discussions with the public about it, try and deconstruct it for people, is worrying,” she emphasises.

Besides fears of a possible spillover of tensions from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the EU and the US are also aware of the immense popularity of the two leaders in their respective countries.

Also, both countries have been on the receiving end of development funding from the West, and now, it seems that the West wants to cash in on their investment.

“No other leaders are better suited to sign this agreement,” says Enmi. 

“They have an immense electoral mandate and political legitimacy. They have popular support. So they need to be the ones to deliver.”



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