Prime Minister Albin Kurti of Kosovo has stated he prioritizes collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to rehabilitate the railway connecting Kosovo with Serbia, among other things.
Speaking from the EBRD summit with Western Balkans leaders in London, Kurti said:
“I believe that with our government, we [Kosovo government and EBRD] can do things that we did not do in the past. We will be focusing, among other things, in this link between Prizren in Kosova and Tetova in North Macedonia, but also in rehabilitation of the railway south-north, from Hani i Elezit at the border crossing with North Macedonia, to Leshak at the border crossing with Serbia.”
These two priorities coincide with the last agreement signed between Kosovo and Serbia under the mediation of US President’s envoy Richard Grenell. After the agreement was signed, overseen by Presidents Thaçi and Vucic, Kurti seemed to disavow it, saying his government had not been informed.
“I am only three weeks in office but there is great enthusiasm in Kosova, and I want this enthusiasm to [be] transmit[ted] into more regional cooperation and in more investments for the region, especially for the Republic of Kosova,” Kurti added in the short interview published by the EBRD Twitter account.
Kurti also underlined rule of law, fight against corruption and attracting investments as his government’s priorities.
“On the other hand we are also going to link labor market with qualitative educational, and we need better infrastructure, especially railways, where EBRD could help us a lot, and regional roads in order to have better connectivity inside our country and with our neighboring countries,” Kurti said.
First Vice President at the EBRD Jurgen Rigterink tweeted that Kurti had asked his Serbian counterpart for reciprocity between the two countries and for Serbia to recognize Kosovo.
