Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Western official representatives in "concessions" to Serbia, which, according to him, is motivated by excessive fears that Belgrade can get even closer to Moscow, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
In an interview with the agency from Brussels yesterday, Kurti said that the European Union fails to play the role of "referee" in the implementation of the EU-brokered agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Serbia has been trying to maintain a balance between its traditionally close ties with Moscow and its relationship with the West, which is a major source of investment, the agency noted. She did not join Western sanctions against Russia, but condemned the invasion. EU and US officials have placed much of the blame on Kurti for the lack of progress in implementing the agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, reached last March in Ohrid, North Macedonia.
Kurti, however, rejected these claims and said that the West was not paying attention to Serbian violations of the agreement. "I want Brussels to play the role of a referee who will blow the whistle whenever there is a violation of the agreement," Kurti said.
"What we have seen in these two years is that when Belgrade violates the agreement, Brussels does not act," he added. In his words "yielding" of the West towards Serbia, manifested since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, has not produced results and must be stopped.
"The appeasement towards Serbia in these two and a half years, since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, has not produced results. And someone must say: that's enough!", stressed the Kosovo Prime Minister.
Kosovo, whose population consists predominantly of ethnic Albanians, declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia, with diplomatic support from Russia, refuses to recognize this independence. Kurti said diplomats and officials determining Western policy toward Serbia were showing "too much caution or even fear"; regarding the Kremlin. The EU diplomatic service, which helped broker the Ohrid deal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters noted.
Last year, the EU imposed restrictions on economic aid and high-level meetings with Kurti's government, blaming it for fueling violence in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo.
Representatives of the EU and the US also criticize Kurti for not creating an association of municipalities with a predominantly Serbian population (the so-called Union of Serbian Municipalities) to provide them with some degree of self-governance. Serbia insists the association must be established before other steps to normalize relations and accuses Kurti of blocking progress in the EU-backed dialogue.
In the interview, Kurti stated that he was ready to talk about "self-governance" of the Serbs, but does not want to accept anything that would undermine Kosovo as a state. He also said that it is not right for the West to focus so much on one issue, while there are a wide range of agreements between Serbia and Kosovo that Belgrade has not respected.