Protecting or isolating Kosovo?
I’ve translated a column and a robust critique of Kurti government, by Prof. Muhamedin Kullashi, one of foremost contemporary Albanian philosophers and the former Kosovo Ambassador in France
Prof Kullashi is a professor in a University of Paris-VIII. In 1992 he founded the famous Committee for Kosovo in Paris, embedded with Esprit magazine, together with renowned French intellectuals Olivier Mongin, Antoine Garapon, Pierre Hasner, Pascal Bruckner, André Glucksmann, etc. After Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence, Prof Kullashi became the first Kosovan Ambassador in Paris, serving eight years as Kosovo’s top diplomat covering issues in French-speaking countries. Today he continues writing mostly on philosophy but he recently published an opinion piece in Koha Ditore which I have translated here, with his permission.
The political orientation of the Kurti government, since the beginning of its mandate in 2021, has been marked by a tendency to disregard the requests of allied countries for coordination and cooperation in resolving the problems facing Kosovo, particularly those related to relations with Serbia.
One characteristic case, recently, involves the government’s refusal to cooperate in lifting the ban on the import of goods from Serbia. In the 2023 Progress Report for Kosovo, the European Commission emphasized that the ban on the movement of goods is contrary to the spirit of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, which constitutes Kosovo’s only contractual agreement with the European Union.
Germany’s official representative, Manuel Sarrazin, held two meetings with Prime Minister Kurti at the beginning of September, within a week, to resolve this issue. The Prime Minister of Kosovo explained that the reason for the rejection of this ban is not related to trade, but to “national security,” specifically the risk that weapons could enter Kosovo along with goods from Serbia.
The German side pledged to ensure the installation of X-ray equipment, which would enable the detection of weapons at the border. Even this proposal did not sway the government’s determination to ban the import of certain goods from Serbia. In this way, the Kurti government is risking Kosovo’s exclusion from the Berlin Process Summit, which would be the second most significant blow after Kosovo’s failure to join the Council of Europe.
The License Plate Crisis
However, national security was not actually ensured by Kurti, but by NATO allied countries. Let me remind you in this context of the license plate crisis Kurti caused in 2021: at that time, Vučić concentrated military troops on the border with Kosovo. In response to this threat, it was NATO’s reaction that forced Serbia to withdraw its troops from the Kosovo border. NATO warned the Serbian military leadership of the response it would give to any attempt to attack Kosovo: in the letter sent by the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army to Vučić, there are also three lines published by the daily newspaper “Danas”: “Mr. President, NATO has informed us that in their response, the first target would be the headquarters of our military.” On the other hand, it was the allied countries that resolved the issue with the vehicle license plates.
Indeed, Kosovo’s national security has been ensured by NATO for more than a quarter of a century. However, it is Kurti’s policy, with its isolationist orientation, that puts it at risk. We have been witnesses, for four years now, of this harmful approach, which is against the interests of Kosovo. I must clarify that not only national security, but also economic development, as well as development in all spheres of Kosovo, has been based on the strong political and economic support of allied countries. The citizens of Kosovo, in fact, did not vote for Kurti to damage international relations and cooperation.
During my eight years as Kosovo’s ambassador to France (2008–2017), and even before, since 1999 (NATO intervention), I have been a witness, among other things, to the amazement and respect of high-level diplomats from many countries for the degree and intensity of support (political, economic, and military) that Western countries provided to Kosovo.
However, for the past four years, we have been witnessing the erosion of this support due to the policies of the Kurti government: especially the lack of coordination and cooperation with allied countries, as well as the lack of knowledge that affects the achievement of political and economic objectives.
The result of this policy benefits not only Serbia, but also Russia: the damage to multiple ties with Western countries over these past four years has achieved what those two countries had planned, especially since Kosovo’s liberation from Serbia.
“Kosovo Was Not Liberated by NATO”
I must remind you that Kurti’s political optics were also manifested in his statement to the media in 2010, where he claimed that “Kosovo was not liberated by NATO.” This “truth,” or rather this self-mystification, came even ten years after the Serbian army and police were expelled from Kosovo, after Serbia signed the act of capitulation with NATO in Kumanovo. Ten years after this, Kurti wanted to ‘open the eyes of Kosovo Albanians’, as well as others, by stating that “Kosovo was not liberated by NATO.” This statement reveals the hallucinatory nature of Kurti’s political “visions” and, on the other hand, his anti-Western orientation. He needed to publicly deny, with his own words, the massive reality of liberation — a reality acknowledged not only by Serbia and Russia, but also by other non-Western states, even though they opposed the liberation operation. This is a linguistic gem of “Newspeak,” which Orwell criticized: the stripping of words of their meaning, the dismantling of the significance and understanding they carry.
This statement is connected to the ideological “treasure” of the Vetëvendosje (LVV) movement, particularly its stance against NATO’s intervention in 1999. While the vast majority of political parties and the overwhelming majority of Kosovo Albanians fully understood the meaning and importance of NATO’s intervention, expressing gratitude to the Western countries for Kosovo’s liberation, LVV remained opposed.
An intervention of such proportions remains a major military and political event, not only in the history of Albanians.
However, under the influence of Enverist and leftist “anti-imperialist” ideological schemes, LVV opposed NATO’s intervention over the years.
To be against this NATO intervention, which bombed Serbia’s military and strategic targets, objectively means supporting the continuation of Serbian troops’ mass crimes against Kosovo Albanians and hindering the return of approximately 800,000 Albanians to their homes. Therefore, the necessity of cultivating fruitful relations with Western countries has long been evident for Kosovo Albanians and their political officials.
This became even clearer as the main hope and concern of Serbia, since 1999, has been to damage Kosovo’s relations with these Western countries and to isolate Kosovo. However, it was precisely these Western countries, which participated in the liberation of Kosovo, that strongly helped, thereafter, to establish Kosovo’s political and economic ties with 108 states across several continents. They also assisted in Kosovo’s integration into 33 international organizations, including CEFTA (2007).
Yet the Kurti government, in these four years, has not managed to secure recognition from any new countries or integrate into any international organization. Thus, the “defense of Kosovo’s sovereignty” by the Kurti government has resulted in increasing isolation.
However, what makes the current situation even more severe is the fact that this government has neither shown willingness nor knowledge for international cooperation with countries with which we have had regular collaboration over the past two decades, in various fields: political, economic, and cultural.
Against Kosovo’s Independence
In this context, let’s also mention Kurti’s vehement stance against Kosovo’s independence (Klan Kosova, January 27, 2008) during a TV program. This did not stop him, several years later, from seeking the votes of Kosovo’s citizens for the post of prime minister, with loud promises that he would make Kosovo flourish.
Regarding the ban on imports from Serbia, Kosovo has also been criticized in this year’s report by the U.S. Department of State on the business climate in Kosovo. It stated that “the ban has caused great confusion among importers and has negatively affected foreign-owned companies in Kosovo due to disruptions in the supply chain.”
Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, recently recommended to Prime Minister Kurti during a press conference that he return to close cooperation with the U.S., the European Union, and NATO. However, the Kurti government prefers to confront senior officials of Western countries: it makes them feel bigger and more impressive.
Additionally, some advisors and ministers, the more ignorant they are, the more arrogant they become, imitating this posturing, which is certainly harmful to Kosovo. But it’s also a reflection of a policy characterized by sterility. These behaviors are not actions that would bring any benefit to the state of Kosovo. It is certain that these stances toward allied countries only harm Kosovo’s interests.
Another aspect of Kosovo’s isolation manifests through the imposition of punitive measures by the U.S. and European countries; these countries have even considered the possibility of further sanctions against Kosovo. Thus, for the first time in a quarter-century, the Prime Minister of Kosovo is not invited, except in rare instances, by his allied country counterparts, neither to bilateral meetings nor international conferences. These states have made it clear that under such circumstances, they cannot engage in the creation of new ties for Kosovo with other countries and international organizations. Yet these serious reactions have not shaken Kurti’s resolve to oppose all these countries, which until recently were allies, playing a decisive role in Kosovo’s liberation, its reconstruction, economic development, the advancement of education and science, and especially support in building Kosovo’s international relations with other countries.
Kosovo is Closing Itself Off
Kosovo’s failure to secure membership in the Council of Europe and now the warnings of a possible exclusion from the Berlin Process, should Kosovo not comply with the free trade agreement, CEFTA, have reinforced the notion that Kosovo is closing its own path towards important international organizations.
Previous governments of Kosovo had various shortcomings, but they never lacked an elementary political pragmatism in cooperation and coordination with the U.S., the European Union, and NATO.
The citizens of Kosovo did not vote for this government to lead the country into isolation and weaken the cooperation, which is the lifeblood of a state’s development. This government has now made its isolationist policy visible. As has become increasingly clear, this policy serves not only Serbia but also Russia: even though Kurti attempts to present himself as the “defender” of Kosovo’s sovereignty.
However, the way he is acting reveals the true nature of his policy: the refusal to cooperate with allied countries on issues between Kosovo and Serbia, disregarding the role and international political influence of these states for Kosovo, uncovers his allegiance to the legacy of Enver Hoxha’s policies, whose model was symbolized by the bunker — a figure of drastic isolation of a state and country.
The consequences of the destruction of Albania, in all sectors, during the rule of Enver Hoxha, have been analyzed and illuminated for decades now by authors and political figures from Albania and other countries. However, LVV as a party remains closed off to these critical analyses.
Attacks on the Media, Civil Society, and the Judiciary
Not by coincidence, one of the serious issues with Kurti’s government has been the pressures and attacks on the media, civil society, and the judicial sphere, as well as on education unions. These are characteristics that define non-democratic regimes. The rhetoric around “defending sovereignty,” although there is no office akin to that of Orbán’s yet, seems intended to obscure these serious problems.
Through its non-political actions, Kurti’s government has deepened the rift and animosity between Kosovo’s institutions and its allied states, primarily the U.S. and those of the European Union. On the other hand, Serbia has recently succeeded in establishing a multi-year strategic cooperation agreement with the United States in the energy sector. It has also signed agreements with Germany for lithium extraction and with France for the procurement of military aircraft. Meanwhile, Kosovo, due to the government’s irresponsibility, has been punished for a year now with financial sanctions from the EU, thereby hindering Kosovo’s economic and institutional reforms toward the EU.
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