Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, accused the West on Thursday of “pampering” Serbia due to fears and concerns about destabilization, adding that this approach is not “paying off” and that Kosovo is the one “paying” for it.
Kurti’s government has faced criticism from several Western countries and the EU for a series of decisions made in the Serb-majority northern region this year, where he has said he aims to establish law and order.
He stated that by being “overly cautious” with Serbia, the West is causing Kosovo to “pay the price, and this is not fair.”
Speaking in an interview with Reuters on Friday, Kurti said, “I believe that the West’s pampering of Serbia over the past two and a half years since the start of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is not paying off, and someone needs to say enough.”
“Serbia’s strong ties with the Russian Federation and their deep historical, economic, and cultural connections are causing the West to be overly cautious with Serbia,” Kurti added.
Unlike EU and other Western countries, Serbia refuses to impose sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. It continues to maintain warm relations with Russia, even though it has expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
In the past months, Serbia has signed a deal with France to purchase fighter jets worth around 2.7 billion euros, as well as a memorandum of understanding on lithium with the EU.
“Serbia has found partners in the West as well due to fears and concerns some diplomats have about potential destabilization. Before the war in Ukraine, I saw some Western diplomats very relaxed, and now the same ones are very fearful. I believe they were wrong then and are wrong now,” Kurti added.
“Brussels Should Pressure Serbia”
Kurti criticized the European Union, which both neighboring countries aim to join, for not reacting to Serbia’s “violations.”
“Brussels should play the role of referee and blow the whistle whenever there are violations of the Agreement,” Kurti said, referring to the Basic Agreement that Kosovo and Serbia reached under EU mediation at the beginning of 2023 to normalize relations.
The European Union has consistently criticized both sides for failing to implement the agreement.
Kurti has insisted that the agreement be signed and that Serbia withdraw a letter that then-Prime Minister Ana Brnabić sent to the EU last year, expressing reservations about the deal, as well as hand over Milan Radoičić and his group, suspected of the armed attack in Banjska.
“What we’ve seen over the past two years is that Brussels has not reacted when Belgrade violated the agreement. We want Brussels to pressure Serbia to respect the agreement and engage in good faith and constructively to fully implement it,” Kurti said.
Kurti’s government banned the Serbian dinar, shut down several branches of the Serbian postal service, as well as other parallel Serbian institutions in a series of decisions this year, while also planning to reopen the bridge over the Ibar River, for which it has been criticized for potentially risking unrest and destabilization.
Regarding the bridge over the Ibar, which divides Mitrovica into the Albanian-majority south and the Serb-majority north, Kurti accused Serbia of wanting to keep it closed.
“Serbia wants to keep the Mitrovica bridge closed because it wants to keep alive the dream of partitioning Kosovo. It wants to turn the Ibar bridge into a new border. This will not happen,” he said.
Currently, the bridge is only open to pedestrians, with Italian KFOR soldiers stationed on it. Kosovo Police officers are also stationed nearby.
