Albin Kurti for NAP: Serbia's state policy prevents BiH and Kosovo from moving forward

Albin Kurti always has an original stance on Kosovo's political problems. As a student, during Milosevic's regime, he spent three years in prisons in Pozarevac and Lipljan.

He diagnoses and detects Serbian policy which, in his opinion, produces political crises in the region.

He was born in 1975 in Pristina.

In an interview for the Patria News Agency, he talks about Serbia's influence on Kosovo and BiH, Belgrade's destabilizing policy in the region, potential motives for the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, and the future fate of the Western Balkans.

You and your Self-Determination Movement have become the most important political factor in the Republic of Kosovo after the elections. Your stance that the government should negotiate and reach solutions in agreement with Kosovo Serbs has yielded results. Belgrade has been excluded because it has been shown that Belgrade's best solution is the status quo.

Kurti: The Self-Determination Movement is the strongest single parliamentary party, with over 200,000 votes won or 27.49 percent, which means we have 32 seats in the Kosovo Assembly out of a total of 120 (of which 20 seats are guaranteed for minorities). But since we could not achieve a majority of over 50 percent, the government is led by a coalition consisting of sixteen parties, including Prime Minister Haradinaj's party with 11 seats.

Our movement advocates for a bottom-up dialogue, a dialogue with citizens of Kosovo of Serbian nationality on internal issues that unite us, such as unemployment and production, civil rights and the rule of law, the fight against corruption and organized crime, and other life problems that trouble ordinary citizens in Kosovo, regardless of nationality. Dialogue with Serbia, as long as Serbia does not recognize Kosovo, has territorial pretensions over our country, has no remorse for war crimes, and cannot be equal or just. So far, much has been invested in dialogue with Serbia by the international community, but the results have been almost negligible in terms of citizens' interests, while Kosovo has not been able to force recognition from Serbia. We still experience strong political influence from Serbia through Serbian enclaves, especially in the north of Kosovo, and this influence negates Kosovo's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We have the example of the largest Serbian party in parliament, "Srpska Lista," which was created and is run by Belgrade.

There is talk of a commissioned murder of Ivanovic, who wanted negotiations and peace in Kosovo. Where do the agreements between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs stand today after the murder of Oliver Ivanovic?

Kurti: Regarding the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, there are two possible explanations: One is that Serbia wants to show and prove that it rules the north of Kosovo and that no one should think that the north of Kosovo can ever be Kosovo, and that Serbia holds power there with its security structures, considering the professionalism with which the murder was carried out. The second explanation is that Ivanovic was killed because he participated in war crimes; several Albanians identified him in court as a member of various paramilitary formations, so he could potentially be a witness to those crimes in the future. It is possible that they eliminated him as a potential witness, especially since he was on very bad terms with Vucic. I think the murder of Ivanovic will not change the relations between Albanians and Serbs, as everyone is convinced that Albanians have nothing to do with this murder, and as for agreements with Serbia, they have used even smaller reasons to block various processes in Kosovo.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have been placed on an equal footing when it comes to Euro-Atlantic integration, and their accession to NATO and the European Union is being openly hindered.

Kurti: Bosnia and Herzegovina is unfortunately a dysfunctional state because a part of it, Republika Srpska, as a creation of genocide, does not recognize Bosnia but strives for secession and annexation to Serbia. This type of "Bosniakization" of Kosovo was attempted by creating municipalities with a Serbian majority and later by creating a "community of Serbian municipalities," which turned out to violate the Kosovo Constitution in 23 articles. Both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo need to become functional states, with the full application of sovereignty over their territories. Serbia's state policy hinders both countries on this path. Both Republika Srpska in Bosnia and the CSM in Kosovo are political projects of Serbia.

Dodik, they say, promised Republika Srpska to Putin, and it is also claimed that the Russians will take over the Community of Serbian Municipalities. You also saw the Erdogan-Izetbegovic-Vucic talks in Istanbul. A prominent analyst even speculated about a "change in the geopolitical orientation of the region." In your opinion, where is the Western Balkans heading?

Kurti: The interests of several major powers are present in the Western Balkans, such as the USA, the EU (especially Germany), Russia, Turkey, etc. These interests sometimes converge and sometimes diverge and function against each other. Russia was the largest investor in Republika Srpska, even larger than Serbia. Turkey is also a major investor in several countries, as are Germany and the USA. Depending on the political and economic presence, so is the influence. I think the countries of the Western Balkans should follow the path of Euro-Atlantic and European integration, as countries with full sovereignty and the fulfillment of the will for self-determination as a universal right of all peoples. At the same time, the model of social democracy, where economic growth is combined with social justice, is the right way forward.