FEARLESS KURTI

*Who in this country had the guts to invite the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, for a visit

*Initiative of the Association Krug 99: "Southern Axis of Peace" as a response to "Northern Axis of Hegemony of Expansionism"

By: Fuad Đidić

Last week's visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, to Sarajevo stirred up the public.

Reactions came from all directions of the Bosnian political scene.

If we look for a common denominator of all these reactions, we could find it in one word – "emotional elation". Reactions from Sarajevo, on one hand, exceeded all expectations in their strength of approval and support, and on the other, opposite side, reactions from Republika Srpska were full of emotional anger and protest, and even consternation.

On this occasion, the session of the Council of Ministers was canceled, Dodik accused his coalition partners of being "meddlers", Čović described the visit as an "ill-considered political move", while none of the leaders of the ruling "Trojka" officially declared themselves or dared to describe the nature of Prime Minister Kurti's visit to Sarajevo.

Thus, Albin Kurti's "unexpected" visit to Sarajevo has drawn the most convincing map to date, on which opposing policies and coalitions are sharply recognized, but also regions in countries that are "destined to be silent" and "obediently listen", and, conversely, regions that, by the logic of "supremacy", are "destined" to manage and rule over the majority in those countries.

However, it remains a mystery to this day – who among those who are only supposed to "be silent" and "nod their heads" actually "stepped up" and invited a foreign leader known for his relentless exposure of Serbian imperialism and plans for political and mental enslavement of neighboring countries and peoples.

So, who in this country had the guts to invite Prime Minister Kurti for a visit?

Although received in the highest institutions of this country, such as the Presidency of BiH, where he had separate meetings with Denis Bećirović and Željko Komšić, as well as with the Prime Minister of the Federation, Nikšić, Prime Minister Kurti did not come to Sarajevo on an official invitation from any of these state institutions.

And, despite the fact that he also met with the leaders of the SDA party, Bakir Izetbegović, and the leader of the Party for BiH, Semir Efendić, Kurti did not come to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the invitation of any of these parties.

Finally, the true initiators, who dared to invite the prime minister of a country with which Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have formal diplomatic relations, were – the Association of Independent Intellectuals, "Krug 99" from Sarajevo.

Adil Kulenović, president of the "Krug 99" Association, speaks more about the real motives of the invitation: "Preparations for this visit lasted a long time. We had to be persistent and determined to overcome numerous administrative, organizational, and even financial obstacles in order to organize the visit of a prime minister of a country to Sarajevo. And although, unfortunately, the Summit of Western Balkan leaders in Neum was canceled, we are grateful to Prime Minister Kurti for not canceling his visit to Sarajevo and thus letting "go down the drain" the enormous efforts we invested throughout the year to make this visit happen at all".

The unanimous assessment of the closest leadership of the "Krug 99" Association is that this visit clearly confirmed the fateful connection between the two countries whose "immeasurable suffering comes from the same ideological and political root".

At this point, it was also assessed that there is a pronounced practice of perverting historical facts about the suffering, expulsion, and ethnic cleansing of the two peoples since Milošević's time.

And that such a practice is still recognizable today in the statements of leading Serbian and Serb political leaders.

However, Prime Minister Kurti's public appearances during his short visit to Sarajevo revealed a number of other important facts that are not yet being discussed publicly.

The moment he entered the large hall of the Vijećnica in Sarajevo was unprecedented in Sarajevo in the past few decades. Kurti was greeted with a standing ovation from hundreds of attendees. It was a moment of historical significance.

His speech was often interrupted by applause and the audience's enthusiasm.

Kurti stirred emotions and, with his speech, hit the very spirit of the people. It was as if hundreds of those present, through his words, his unvarnished criticism of Serbian hegemonism, recognized and regained the strength to be "silenced", and to finally "hang their heads". He was particularly sharp and strong when, without beating around the bush, he spoke about the "policy of constant concessions" – a policy that the forces of hegemony and genocide denial understand as defeat.

Kurti spoke in words that reminded Sarajevo of the days of its fearlessness. He spoke in the language of Sarajevo's best days of pride and dignity.

At one point, halfway through his speech, as the sound of the adhan from a nearby mosque reached the hall, Kurti fell silent. Masterfully. It was an act where he sent an unusual and powerful message through silence.

We wonder, did Kurti say to this city and this country – with this act, with these moments of silence, I am showing how dignity is restored, how dignity is restored, how the degradation of the honor of a people and its country and everything sacred and great within it is stopped.

His act of silence ended with applause. It was a moment that showed how well the public understood his message. A moment of full self-awareness.

The entire speech of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Kurti, was actually a speech about Bosnia and Bosnians. With his powerful words, with which he exposes and opposes Serbian imperialism, Kurti hits where no one else here does, so fearlessly and boldly. The public recognized in him precisely that fearlessness that they could not recognize in any political leader, nor in any political party or political vision of the country here.

It was a moment of awakening, of rising from the victim narrative about Bosnia as an impossible state, of liberation from the toxic rhetoric about "defeated Bosnia", a moment of return to what we were yesterday, to what lives within us as exiled, and to the policy that drives us out of this country and makes room for some other goals and projects.

In the many years behind us, Sarajevo has never, as in the moments when Albin Kurti was speaking, so openly displayed its dormant and slumbering spirit, displayed its deeply suppressed strength of protest and desire to return to itself.

There is no insult or humiliation, no contempt or cynicism with which you have not showered us all these years, with which you have not destroyed our human and civic pride, there is no way you have not abused our patience and our real desire for coexistence in this country; there is no one from Dodik's and Čović's "axis of contempt" who has not so brazenly and arrogantly engaged in spitting on our dignity, trampling on our honor and the honor of this country and its people.

This, in short, is the "trauma map" that is well known to us, which Prime Minister Albin Kurti brought to light, sharpening its harsh relief to the fullest, as he delivered his great speech in the Sarajevo Vijećnica on that Friday evening, December 6, 2024.

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However, how did the Association "Krug 99", an organization unparalleled in the region in the scope of its activities and the strength of its ideas with which it uncompromisingly appears in public, react to Kurti's visit.

What was their civic response.

This response was presented in a brief introductory statement by Adil Kulenović, president of the Association: "Our individual internal political resistance and courage in the fight for the freedom and prosperity of our countries and all their citizens are not enough.
Historical necessity compels us to connect more firmly and create a "Southern Axis of Peace in the Balkans", which consists of non-expansionist countries in this part of Europe – Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina".

An axis of peace in the Balkans consisting of non-expansionist countries in this part of Here lies the key political message from this gathering in Vijećnica, which Prime Minister Albin Kurti attended.

The time we live in, the rise of hegemonism, the rise of expansionist aspirations of both Serbia and Croatia, especially towards BiH, but also towards other countries in the region, demand an urgent response and action.

In the presentations of Prof. Senadin Lavić, Prof. Jahjo Muhasilović, Prof. Vahidin Preljević, and Prof. Enver Halilović, which we heard on the podium in Vijećnica on this occasion, this response from the Association "Krug 99" was offered, very explicitly in some speeches.

Let us recall how Prof. Lavić spoke about the formation of a regional "Balkan League of Friendship", and Prof. Muhasilović suggested the "urgent" and "creative" formation of a new "regional cooperation bloc". The Association "Krug 99" has, so far, during several conversations, both with ambassadors of certain countries and with ministers from the governments of certain countries (Montenegro), for the first time in a very clear form, announced an initiative to form a regional body composed of countries that do not have such territorial or expansionist pretensions, during Albin Kurti's speech.

This initiative of "Krug 99" is understood primarily as an institutional connection of the academic community, non-governmental organizations, the economy, and ultimately the political connection of the countries of BiH, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo, which, as the "Southern Axis of Peace", would represent a counterweight or a barrier to the "Northern Axis of Hegemony of Expansionism of Serbia and Croatia".

This initiative of "Krug 99", implicitly supported by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has as its ultimate goal the restoration of dignity and credibility to the forces of peace in the region.

It is quite certain that Prime Minister Kurti's speech in Vijećnica, attended by the ambassadors of Turkey, Macedonia, and Montenegro, will have wider ramifications, including towards the countries of the European Union.

The dominant rhetoric coming from the countries of "hegemony" – Serbia and Croatia, whether it concerns the "Serbian world" or "legitimate representation", is increasingly accepted and adopted as a "standard" and measure of political reality in a growing number of European countries, while the rhetoric of the "forces of peace", the rhetoric of authentic discourse –
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro, is devalued, marginalized, and defamed.

Albin Kurti in Sarajevo sparked that storm of enthusiasm precisely because of his – fearless speech about peace.

Because at this, historically most significant session of "Krug 99", he opened up hope that it is possible to break through and overcome the imposed and skillfully woven mental block of political discourse in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is quite certain that this visit will long be remembered as a watershed between two shores – of peoples and authorities, between the narrative of "legitimate representation" and the narrative of "true democracy"; between the rhetoric of the "Serbian world" and the rhetoric of "Bosnia as ours – Bosnian"; and ultimately, a watershed between the discourse of "slavery" and the discourse of "liberation".