Kurti: Serbia considers Bosnia and Herzegovina a temporary state and is trying to divide it

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on N1's Pressing that due to the "bitter experience" from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo will not be allowed because they do not want Serbia to "copy the model" of Republika Srpska.

Why is it harder to travel from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Kosovo than from Serbia?

That's true. A few years ago, when I was visiting Srebrenica, I had to get a visa at the BiH Embassy in Skopje, and they only gave it to me for five days. We have many obstacles between Pristina and Sarajevo, but I think these obstacles come only from Belgrade. Serbia considers Bosnia and Herzegovina a temporary state and is working to divide it through Republika Srpska. The problem between our mutual relations is official Belgrade.

I hope that with this agreement we made on November 3rd within the Berlin Process, and there were three agreements that need to be ratified by three parliaments, then we will be able to travel with identity cards.

Will you visit Sarajevo officially soon?

I think I should come, but it depends on the circumstances because these months are important for our region. I hope that the government in BiH will be formed as soon as possible and that we will establish a bridge between Pristina and Sarajevo. We must visit each other more often. I have had good contacts with all representatives of BiH, starting with Denis Zvizdić, and I hope that our cooperation will develop even further.

Do you expect Bosnia and Herzegovina to recognize Kosovo? Dodik has met every such idea with hostility?

I remember those years well, in the mid-nineties, when the Dayton Peace Agreement was made, and those who were optimistic said at the time that it would stop the war and enable inclusivity. But unfortunately, that inclusivity has degraded into the veto of Republika Srpska. Instead of RS integrating into the state, it has become the opposite – Belgrade's weapon against the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We should all remember that the motive and goal of the Dayton Agreement are misused every day from Banja Luka.

What will happen between Kosovo and Serbia, you say you expect an agreement on mutual recognition to be signed by spring?

We want an agreement, we are going into dialogue. It seems that Belgrade and Vučić do not want an agreement. Kosovo is a normal country, we declared independence almost 15 years ago and in the last year we had the biggest historical growth. We also improved our position by 17 places, according to Transparency International, regarding the fight against corruption, as well as media freedom. In terms of the rule of law, we are first in the Balkans. This means Kosovo is a normal country that has progress and development, but our relations with Serbia are not normal. This is not Kosovo's fault, but because Serbia is not a normal country. It is an autocracy that maintains very broad and close ties with the Kremlin. During the SNS government, Serbia became a Russian province, and that is why the situation in the Balkans is dangerous because, in addition to fighting Belgrade's hegemony, Russia is also present. Kosovo has its own army and police and is a much more democratic country than Serbia, and Kosovo's independence is much greater than Serbia's, which is dependent on Russia. We are ahead of Serbia in economic growth. In Serbia, the opposition cannot win, and in Kosovo, we as the opposition have proven that we can take power. That is the main test of democracy. You know that in Russia too, the opposition has no chance of winning. We are cautious because we border an undemocratic state.

Why don't you allow the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, are you afraid of a new RS?

For the normalization of relations, we need mutual recognition at the center of the agreement. If Belgrade says that this will not happen, then they are against the agreement. Kosovo will not allow Republika Srpska within Kosovo, and we know very well that this is what Serbia wants. We have bitter experience from BiH and we are very careful that Serbia does not copy that model in Kosovo.

On April 26, 1991, 14 municipalities with a majority Serb population formed a community. Then on January 9, 1992, they declared their independence, and on February 28, they got a constitution. On December 14, 1995, unfortunately, they received international recognition in Dayton. This means they want to create a state within a state through gradual incriminating actions. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state, not a republic, because it has a republic within it that is not a state. In the Republic of Kosovo, they would like Kosovo not to be a state, and they would like a Community of Serb Municipalities that would be some kind of Serbian state within the Republic of Kosovo. Their goal is destructive, they don't want anything for the Kosovo Serbs, but they want something against us. Belgrade, which says Kosovo is a fake state, yet asks for the ZSO, is unserious. If they wanted the Community of Serb Municipalities, they would first recognize Kosovo. They want the ZSO so that the Republic of Kosovo does not function. But we are a successful story thanks to, above all, the NATO intervention and the Kosovo Liberation Army. You know, in 1999, 19 countries had to intervene against Slobodan Milošević to prevent genocide in Kosovo.