Kurti is asked about Trump’s warning that he will return to Kosovo and Serbia, this is his reaction

Kurti is asked about Trump’s warning that he will return to Kosovo and Serbia, this is his reaction

Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, said on Monday that normalizing relations with Serbia is possible and to achieve this, pressure must be put on Belgrade to implement the Agreement on the Road to Normalization of Relations, reached in 2023.

This is how Kurti responded to the question of whether there could be an agreement with Serbia soon, following a statement made the day before by US President Donald Trump regarding relations between Pristina and Belgrade.

Kurti reiterated the position that Kosovo and Serbia have already reached an agreement on normalization, which he said is being violated by Belgrade, while reiterating Kosovo’s demands for this process.

“In order to normalize relations between our two countries, it is necessary that they first hand over to the authorities of our state Milan Radoicic, the criminal who killed our police sergeant, the hero of Kosovo, Afrim Bunjaku. Then, they agree to sign the Basic Agreement with the Implementation Annex. At the same time, they also withdraw that letter from December 2023, when former Prime Minister [Serbian, Ana] Brnabic said that she does not respect the territorial integrity of Kosovo,” Kurti said.

Trump wrote on Sunday in Truth Social that during his first presidential term, Kosovo and Serbia were “heading for a fierce clash” and a war was about to break out, but added that he stopped it, accusing his successor, former President Joe Biden, of “damaging the long-term perspective with some very senseless decisions, but I will fix it, again.”

During Trump’s first term, in 2020, Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement at the White House for economic normalization. This agreement, which included recognition of Kosovo’s independence by Israel, has not been fully implemented.

After Trump’s victory in the presidential elections in November last year, Kurti was asked about the implementation of this agreement, known as the Washington Agreement.

At that time, he also stated that the agreement reached in 2023 in Brussels, and the annex for its implementation, which the parties agreed on in Ohrid, should first be implemented.

“I believe that normalization is possible, the pressure must be on Belgrade, and we always welcome the role of the US, which is our main ally, irreplaceable partner, and special friend in three main areas. The first is defense, the second is diplomacy, and the third is development,” Kurti told reporters on June 16.

The agreement on the path to normalization of relations has not been signed by the parties, due to Serbia’s refusal to do so. But the European Union – which is mediating the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia – insists that the agreement is binding on the parties.

The 11-article agreement, among other things, provides for a level of self-governance for the Serbian community in Kosovo, mutual recognition of state symbols, so that Serbia does not block Kosovo’s membership in international organizations, and requires Pristina and Belgrade to also implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue.

Kosovo and Serbia have not held a high-level political dialogue meeting since September 2023. Recently, the EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Peter Sorensen, announced that preparations are underway for a new high-level political dialogue meeting. /REL/