The White House pledges of Serbia and Kosovo are unique, in that they are more robust than negotiations conducted before signatures, Kosovo opposition leader Albin Kurti has stated.
In an interview on Saturday for his Vetevendosje party’s social media channel, Kurti reviewed the first 100 days of the government led by Avdullah Hoti. He stressed that the only positive thing it has achieved is Israel’s promise to recognize Kosovo, but the government has helped Serbia to get easy access to the White House.
“This is a document in which, for the first time ever, the agreement is more robust than negotiations. There are topics and issues in this agreement that didn’t appear in negotiations. In my experience, I have not seen a document with an agreement more robust than negotiations,” said Kurti about the documents signed in the Oval Office on September 4, 2020.
The parties met separately with US officials one day before signing the documents, together with President Donald Trump. The three leaders were later nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by a Swedish politician.
“The last point, regarding mutual recognition with Israel, was a kind of positive relief when you see all those negative points where Kosovo loses in every aspect. So, the mutual recognition was positive and it should be welcomed,” he added.
Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has assessed the normalization of relations with the West as his government’s main achievement, blaming Kurti for severing ties with the United States after his reluctance to comply with US envoy Richarrd Grenell’s demands for concessions toward Serbia.
Kurti warned that dividing Kosovo’s territory has not been completely avoided yet.
“Territorial exchange failed, but that does not mean the idea is dead,” he said, recalling how statements regarding the issue by leading White House officials have been contradicting.
“That there were knives on the maps [to divide Kosovo], they proved it themselves. On June 19, Richard Grenell said in an interview that he had heard about the territorial exchange from former security adviser John Bolton, while three months earlier Grenell had stated that he had not heard about it; he contradicted himself but confirmed that Bolton had been [engaged] in the issue of territorial exchange,” he said.
Following the signing of pledges on September 4, Grenell accused Kurti of anti-Americanism.
Prime Minister Hoti has promised that he will not discuss Kosovo’s territory and constitutional order in talks with Serbia. He has claimed that the White House deals proved him right.
However, Kurti claimed that by making Kosovo’s Lake Ujman the subject of talks with Serbia, reopening talks for the Association of Serb Municipalities, removing “Republic of Kosovo” from the pledges signed, pledging to enter Mini-Schengen, suspending to ask for membership in international organizations, Hoti has violated the Constitution.
He urged prosecutors to investigate those involved in the deal with Serbia.
Finally, Kurti stressed the government’s alleged failure to successfully manage the coronavirus pandemic; nearly 600 deaths in a population less than 2 million.
