Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani stated today that while Russia seeks to be a destabilizing factor across Europe, Serbia acts as its extended hand in the Balkans. However, Osmani emphasized that Russia has “zero influence” in Kosovo.
Speaking at a press conference in Riga, Latvia, alongside Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Osmani rejected the term “tensions” between Kosovo and Serbia, arguing that an aggressor and a victim cannot be grouped together.
“Serbia constantly tries to destabilize our country, including through acts of aggression, while we constantly defend ourselves,” Osmani asserted. “In the history of our nation’s existence, we have never invaded or attacked even a single centimeter of any neighbor’s territory. What we have always done and continue to do is defend our independence, defend our territorial integrity, peace, and freedom, which were gained with great sacrifice.”
Osmani’s remarks follow her statement from Washington on July 10, where she claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump had prevented a recent escalation of the situation between Kosovo and Serbia. According to Osmani, Trump had repeatedly conveyed this to her, referring to “very, very recent developments.”
“From the security information I receive every day, Trump prevented a possible flare-up recently. We are not talking about 2023, 2020, but about very, very recent developments,” she had stated then.
