Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti urged the European Union to lift restrictions on funding and participation in talks imposed on his country, accusing Brussels of going soft on Serbia amid regional tensions.
“We were criticized for the violence in the north last year — unjustly — and the EU imposed measures against Kosovo. On the other hand, Serbia is aligning with the Russian Federation regarding the aggression in Ukraine, and there are no sanctions for Serbia,” Kurti told POLITICO in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.
The EU hit Kosovo with restrictive measures last summer in response to an outbreak of violence linked to local voting in the region. The measures effectively banned some high-level meetings between EU and Kosovar officials, paused EU projects, and curbed funding streams for Kosovo. They followed a year-plus of escalating tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, which were involved in a bloody war more than two decades ago.
The EU’s decision to impose restrictions — which mirrored similar actions by the United States — reflected growing frustration with the Kurti government over its handling of disputed elections in the Serb-dominated north of the country. The Serb population boycotted the elections, which resulted in four ethnic Albanian mayors being elected on a tiny turnout. With the aid of police, Kosovo installed the mayors, resulting in months of violent incidents.
In a breakthrough of sorts, Kosovo and Serbia formally recognized each other’s vehicle license plates earlier this month — a major source of tension over the past year. The EU welcomed the move.
But it wasn’t sufficient for Brussels to rethink its restrictions on Kosovo.
“The EU has made specific requests for deescalation to Kosovo and those were clearly and repeatedly communicated to the Kosovo side,” a spokesperson for the EU’s foreign policy agency EEAS said. “These measures are reversible — but Kosovo has not yet fully met those requests.”
The EU’s requests included the establishment of an association of Serb-majority municipalities, a plan that dates back to 2013, along with holding fresh elections in the north.
Kurti told POLITICO his government is committed to holding new elections soon. “It could be this year — in the next few months,” he said, while adding that signatures from at least 20 percent of eligible voters would be needed to initiate the procedure — a process that is underway.
Last month, a dozen European countries urged EEAS chief Josep Borrell to lift the political and economic restrictions against Kosovo, also noting the role Serbia had played in an attack on a village last September. But the EU has yet to budge, with contacts at a minimum between Brussels and Pristina.
The EU has refrained from imposing measures against Serbia, despite widespread concern about last month’s elections in the country. Brussels condemned the “decisive involvement” of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in the December 17 ballot.
Kurti also said that Kosovo wants to join NATO — even though four members of the alliance have yet to recognize the state. “We want to join NATO, and the first milestone would be Partnership for Peace,” Kurti said, referring to a program that allows cooperation between NATO and nonmembers.
His government has been increasing defense spending — partly as a response to increased Serbian aggression, he said. Kosovo recently bought Bayraktar drones from Turkey, and is due to receive Javelin anti-tank missiles from the U.S. — moves Serbia is expected to frown on. NATO recently dispatched 130 extra troops to reinforce its mission in Kosovo.
