Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, during his stay in the United States, said that the reason Washington suspended the planned Strategic Dialogue with Kosovo is linked to the closure of Serbian structures in northern Kosovo, a region with a Serb majority.
Asked during a discussion to clarify the reason behind the U.S. decision announced on September 12, Kurti said he could not compromise on the rule of law.
“[The reason for suspending the planned Strategic Dialogue] is due to the rule of law in northern Kosovo, which turned out to be against the illegal Serbian structures, and here I cannot compromise. I cannot leave this problem to your generation. I believe it is my generation that must resolve it,” Kurti said.
Kurti explained that Kosovo-U.S. relations are three-dimensional: defense, development, and diplomacy. While he said there were no problems in the first two pillars, in diplomacy, according to him, there are “obstacles.”
“Where we have some obstacles is in diplomacy, because in my view, the U.S. considers it very important to pull Serbia away from the Eastern hemisphere, since Serbia is closely tied to Moscow. And we, by remaining unwavering in the rule of law, democracy, state sovereignty, and territorial integrity, are seen by some U.S. politicians and diplomats as not helping the U.S. to detach Serbia from the Russian Federation. But honestly, this should not be my problem,” Kurti said, adding that he represents the interests of Kosovo.
On September 12, the U.S. Embassy justified the suspension of the Dialogue with the actions of Kosovo’s acting government and the rising tensions and instability in the country.
In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo said the actions of the government led by Kurti had “increased tensions and instability, limiting the ability of the United States to work productively with Kosovo on shared priorities.”
“Unfortunately, the recent actions and statements of acting Prime Minister Kurti have presented challenges to the progress achieved over the years,” it said, without specifying exactly which statements and actions were being referred to.
In the U.S., Kurti stated that he is not the kind of prime minister who would tell the Kosovo Police not to arrest a Serbian criminal caught red-handed “because such an action might be condemned by Brussels and Washington.”
“And I appear very different to them compared to my predecessors. This is a curse from my predecessors, who were lenient. I am normal, but I appear extreme. This is because my predecessors were not normal,” Kurti said.
Kurti emphasized that differences between Kosovo and the U.S. are about “tactics and actions,” not values, interests, or principles. On September 19, the acting prime minister declared that while there are differences between the two countries, “we are not broken with America.”
Last year, authorities in Kosovo began closing down institutions in the north operating under the Serbian system. Kosovo considers these institutions parallel and illegal.
The Kosovar government’s actions in the north have faced criticism from the international community, including the U.S. In recent weeks, the operations of the Health Insurance Fund and the Disability and Pension Insurance Fund—functioning under the Serbian system in North Mitrovica—were suspended.
