Albin Kurti, the leader of Kosovo’s largest party Vetevendosje, has presented their approach towards the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue were they to win the February 14 elections.
In an online discussion with scholars and journalists on Tuesday, organized by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, located in Washington, D.C., among other topics Kurti highlighted the necessity for the dialogue to be based on principles and focus on the content of the possible deal between the two countries, instead of the rush to reach an agreement.
Territorial exchanges or redrawing of borders must be excluded from talks, he stressed.
“A precondition for the normalization of relations between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia should be the normalization of the countries themselves through this process. Serbia is not a democratic country, it refuses to face the past, so this dialogue process mediated by the EU and the US should first normalize Serbia,” Kurti stated, in an apparent wordplay related to the official name of talks: “The dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia”.
Kurti added that the dialogue should aim at improving the lives of citizens in both countries – not at compensating Serbia for the losses inflicted by the genocidal regime of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.
“An agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia, which is based on values and principles, in addition to facts and interests, would have a positive impact on the entire region, which together should progress towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration,” Kurti highlighted.
He reiterated that the region’s EU integration process can be accelerated with a more intensive cooperation within the Berlin Process.
Kurti highlighted the need for a “Marshall Plan” for the Western Balkans to help advance their economies and democracies.
Surveys project Vetevendosje as the winner of the February 14 snap elections. Kurti’s participation in elections is not clear yet, due to a suspended sentence against him in 2018 for throwing tear gas in parliament to prevent the adoption of a law on border demarcation with Montenegro.
