Krasniqi: Kurti’s stubbornness is leading Kosovo towards the abyss – the country without institutions, without friends and without a compass – full speech
Express newspaper
26/07/2025 23:58
The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Memli Krasniqi, said that the stubbornness of Kurti and his party was greater than Kosovo and democracy.
Krasniqi, speaking on the podium after the failure of the constitutive session of the Assembly, said that our country has already set a black record for the constitution of the Assembly.
“Despite the Court’s clear advice for compromise and good faith, the stubbornness of Albin Kurti and his party has been greater than responsibility,” Krasniqi said, among other things.
You can read Memli Krasniqi’s full speech below:
Dear colleagues,
Dear citizens of our Republic,
Today is the 53rd constitutive session of the Assembly of Kosovo.
Today it has been 166 days since the elections of February 9, 2025, and Kosovo still has no institutions.
We have already set some black records for the constitution of the Assembly.
Meanwhile, today the 30-day deadline set by the Constitutional Court for the constitution of this institution passes, and again, nothing has moved.
No attempt at a solution. No reflection on the consequences. No empathy for the citizens.
Despite the Court’s clear advice for compromise and good faith, the stubbornness of Albin Kurti and his party has been greater than responsibility.
Bigger than the state. Bigger than democracy.
And, unfortunately, today Kosovo is walking in uncharted territory.
In a dangerous constitutional, institutional and social terrain.
In a gray area, where the state no longer has a compass and citizens no longer have an address.
We are trespassing on a land where the Constitution is not read as a joint contract, but as a document that is distorted according to the interests of the day.
We are treading a land where majority is no longer will, but dictate.
Where dialogue is no longer a means of solution, but a sign of weakness.
And on this dark path, the entire country is heading towards the abyss.
Dear citizens,
In this unknown land where Kosovo is treading, we are not only lost in internal coordinates.
We are increasingly lost even on the international map.
In just a few years, we have gone from a country that was the hope of the region, to a state that is viewed with concern and distrust.
From respected partner to unpredictable actor.
From a country aspiring for European integration, to a republic that risks remaining isolated for another decade.
Today, Kosovo has fewer friends in the world than yesterday.
Today, Kosovo no longer has a voice, because an irresponsible Government has silenced not only the institutions, but also the alliances that were built with effort over 25 years.
And this is no longer just diplomatic isolation.
This is a real risk for the disintegration of the functionality of our state.
A state without institutions, without friends, without integration, without representation, is no longer a functional state.
We are not isolated only from Brussels.
We are increasingly distant from Washington.
We don’t communicate with Tirana at all.
We are abandoned in the region. And divided in our own country.
And this is the highest price that Kosovo is paying for a government that chose arrogance over dialogue, war with friends over building trust, and power over the state.
If we don’t stop this decline, I don’t even want to think about where we’ll end up. But I assure you all that it won’t be pleasant at all!
Dear citizens,
When I say “Kosovo is in uncharted territory,” I’m not just talking about the political crisis.
We are talking about a crisis where, for the first time in 25 years of state-building, citizens are feeling the state as something that is abandoning them. As something that is holding them hostage.
I’m talking about this moment when:
We have no legitimate Government;
We do not have a functional Assembly;
We have no decision-making that responds to your real needs.
Instead of these, we have:
Scandals one after another: from tenders, to clientelistic appointments, to the misuse of the public budget;
Price increases that are hitting every family, every young person, every pensioner;
International isolation that is costing us millions of euros and decades of integration.
Kosovo is the only country that risks losing over 100 million euros from the EU Growth Plan, not due to a lack of capacity, but a lack of institutions.
Dear colleagues,
Let’s be honest with each other and with citizens.
Today I want to make a sensitive and responsible reflection.
PDK is a state-building party. A party that has taken responsibility for building this state, defending it, and moving it forward.
We have not been part of this blockade, nor of these deviations.
But we live with their consequences.
And for this, as the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, I feel a responsibility to say publicly:
We’re sorry.
We are sorry that the citizens are tired.
We regret that we, although determined, have been powerless to change this course until today.
We apologize for the stress, uncertainty, and inability to fully represent you as a result of this blockade, which is why you placed your trust in us on February 9th.
But, in our own way, we have not been silent. We have used every legal avenue to provide direction and a solution to this crisis.
I know and believe that you also do not want us to take more drastic, illegal, or unconstitutional measures.
Because you know: not only sweat, but also blood was shed to build these institutions.
They have been held in prison for thousands of years by prominent intellectuals and patriots.
Dozens of generations of our ancestors have sacrificed.
Today, we have the anniversary of the death of two of our heroes: Adem Demaci and Enver Zymberi.
And, even for their sake, we can never fall to the level that the outgoing government once fell to.
But one thing is now certain that we will never do it:
We will not accept diktat.
We will not be part of violating the Constitution.
We will not submit to personal or group interests.
We will not abandon Kosovo or its constitutional order.
We will continue to defend the constitutional order, democracy, the state and the citizen, even when we are in the minority. Even when we are in the majority. Even when we are in opposition. Even when we are in power.
Dear colleagues,
Dear citizens,
However, faith is a virtue that we dare not lose at this moment. On the contrary. I have faith.
I believe that our society is stronger than this caste.
I have faith that justice will prevail.
I am confident that citizens will choose light again.
Today, more than ever, we need a new vision for Kosovo.
Not just to change power, but to change the way it is governed.
To put politics at the service of the people.
To return hope to the place where it was born.
And while we do this, and we will do it:
This political caste, which is holding the country hostage today, after abusing it for over four years, will go down in history as the caste of shame.
The caste that blocked the institutions.
The caste that used power for itself, not for you.
The caste that degraded the country and impoverished the citizens.
The caste that left Kosovo in an unknown land, in the darkness of uncertainty and loneliness.
Therefore, esteemed colleagues,
Let’s not forget who we are and what we are here for.
We are here not to defend ourselves, but to act.
Not to accept injustices, but to fight them.
Not to remain silent in the face of the violation of the Constitution, but to protect it, at all costs.
Our country is at a crossroads today.
And the decision to return to the right path is in our hands.
Therefore, I invite you to do what is ours:
Let’s return hope, direction, and development to our country:
Let’s give it back its future and prosperity.
For our citizens.
For our children.
For our Kosovo.
Because, as I have often said:
Kosovo can do better. And, undoubtedly, we will do better!
Thank you.