Albin Kurti is acting like he regrets signing the Ohrid Agreement

The United States of America are constantly facing the same issue with Albin Kurti. While they try to find ways to support Kosova’s Prime Minister and stand on his side in every initiative, they suddenly find themselves at odds with him.

The same happened a few weeks ago with the elections in north of Kosova. The elections that were held in communes with an absolute Serb majority did not see any Serbian candidates running and were obviously illegitimate from a political viewpoint. However, the United States supported them as a temporary, almost technical solution in the spirit of the Ohrid Agreement, hoping that they would pave the way towards substantial talks between Kosova and Serbia, and that elections would be repeated under the conditions of political and juridical legitimacy.

Although Prime Minister Kurti is acting as a “patriotic” leader, claiming that he is defending the constitutional right of the newly elected Albanian leaders to take office, he is well aware that he is misusing a delicate process, which can spark a serious conflict that risks blowing up the recently signed Ohrid Agreement.

The snap elections in north of Kosova were not unusual only because Serbs resigned from all institutions, but also because they refused to participate in the electoral process and the newly elected “leaders” were voted only by a legitimate minority. Everyone, including Albin Kurti and the international community are aware of this. Being aware of it, the US did not oppose the farcical electoral process, but it suggested that the new leaders should be considered as a technical and temporary solution. Therefore, while trying to support Albin Kurti, the US suddenly found itself at odds with him as Secretary Blinken was forced to issue the harshest official statement since 1999 against Kovoa’s government.

In the meantime, the situation became quite helpful for the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic who, although involved in several corruption scandals and accused of having relations with the Serbian mafia, suddenly had the opportunity to escape the daily tribulations and appear, just like Mr. Kurti, as a patriot in the eyes of his citizens. With the help of buses and drivers from Kosova, he managed to gather Serbs in Belgrade in order to declare to them he is going to retaliate against Albin Kurti.

All of this comes shortly after Kurti and Vucic had agreed to adopt the Franco-German plan, which aims to normalize relations between Kosova and Serbia and even guarantee a de-facto mutual recognition between both countries.

According to the Franco-German plan, Albin Kurti’s and Kosova’s main obligation is to create the Association of Communes with a Serb majority, while Serbia is required to guarantee free movement, recognition of Kosova issued passports, as well as to withdraw from any international campaigns against Kosova’s recognition. The final goal of the plan is to guarantee a de-facto mutual recognition between both countries.

Albin Kurti seems unsure to guarantee his obligations in the name of Kosova’s government. The same can be said for the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic. It is rather obvious that they are acting as if they regret signing on the Franco-German plan regarding the normalization of the relations between their countries. Therefore, in order to escape from their obligations, the two leaders are only too keen on beating the war drums. However, every game has a culprit and unfortunately, this time the culprit is Kosova. This has been already stated by the country’s main ally, the US and also by the members of the European Union.

Following these events, Albin Kurti seems like the least serious person to sit in important international talks where Kosova’s future is discussed and this can be a serious issue for a new country like Kosova, whose very existence is still undergoing negotiations.

From this moment on, Kosova needs a leadership that can be trusted by the West and not a Prime Minister, or a President whose main quality is the inability to negotiate for their country. While it is clear that both, Albin Kurti and Aleksandar Vucic regret what is going on, the burden of blame remains on Kosova.

I do not believe that Mr. Kurti really wanted, through his irresponsible acts, to help Aleksandar Vucic escape his daily political tribulations and make Kosova responsible for the failure of an international initiative. On the other hand, this is exactly what he has achieved.

Now, in order to return to where he was just after the signing of the Ohrid Agreement, Albin Kurti will have to shake off the political narcissism of the latter days and agree on things that he could have saved himself and Kosova had he been more cautious. His final goal when he signs on every request and obligation is not to appear as a traitor, but as a victim of international pressure. This is why he needs these dirty games of war in north of Kosova.

Original article: https://www.gazetatema.net/editorial/albin-kurti-sillet-si-i-penduar-per-marreveshjen-e-ohrit-i391865