Albin Kurti has long been a thorn in the side of authorities in Kosovo. A vocal critic of Serbian rule, he is now a member of parliament not averse to using tear gas on rival MPs to drive his message home.
Kurti helped lead protests against Belgrade’s oppression of the majority Albanian population until independence in 2008. Now the head of Vetëvendosje, the largest opposition party, he is keeping up the criticism that got him imprisoned by the Serbs and the first Kosovar government of Hashim Thaçi, now president. He was also jailed by police from the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX).
Kurti, 41, spoke to POLITICO in Pristina about the problems facing Kosovo eight years after an independence declaration that Belgrade refuses to recognize:corruption, high unemployment, ethnic tensions and violent outbursts in parliament. He’s been responsible for some of that himself, using tear gas to block a 2015 EU-brokered deal to give the Serbian minority more power.
The EU’s deal would be a step towards reconciliation with Serbia, and a step toward Europe. But your party is blocking it. Why?
We did. We are proud that even the constitutional court blocked it. We believe it presents a step against normalization and would amount to capitulation to an imperialist power — a power which has continually tried to divide Kosovo into two parts. There aren’t only big imperialists in this world. Serbia was always a small imperialist power in the Balkans. A small power which was killing its neighbors, in the name of fighting big imperialist powers. Serbia is imitating one of the big imperialist powers, namely Russia. You have [Vladimir] Putin with proxy states in this neighborhood.
So it’s a nationalistic resistance?
Well, it is a sovereignty issue, a liberation issue, an anti-colonialist issue and the resistance is still not over. We therefore also fight in the name of the nation. But not some kind of right-wing nationalism. If you see some nationalistic tendencies in our movement, they are of the [anti-colonialist campaigner] Frantz Fanon kind, not the Charles de Gaulle kind.
You consider it appropriate to throw tear gas in the parliament. Isn’t your country tired of hate and violence?
Well, quiet protests lead nowhere, especially in our case where the people are protesting against the ruling autocratic government that is supported by some international diplomacy. Any calm demonstrations would just turn into a carnival that the government would make fun of. Simply gathering people together is consequently not enough, you have to become more active than that.
Why is it not enough?
It works like this: While going on peaceful rallies we noticed that some of the hundreds of canisters of tear gas that police would keep throwing at us simply did not explode. These canisters we then took, put them into our pockets and walked to the parliament where I, as a member of parliament, let them off with a lighter. When you let tear gas burst in front of millionaires in the parliament, it is regarded as toxic poison or a chemical weapon. But if you throw it at the poor or the middle class — as the police do — it’s self-defense. So it’s the one who receives the tear gas who gives meaning to it… The tear gas we sprayed into parliament vanished after 30 minutes. But if a Serbian entity were to be installed inside our country it wouldn’t vanish for 30 years.
What are the requirements for starting a dialogue with the Serbs?
There are no conditions to start to talk with the Serbs of Kosovo. But to start with the Serbian government, Serbia has to accept our state, to apologize for the war crimes and has to pay for the war damages. We are faced with 10,000 killed civilians, thousands of raped women, 120,000 destroyed houses and 860,000 Albanians that were expelled from Kosovo in the spring of 1999. The Serbians stole pensioners’ contributions, bank deposits and 12,000 [cultural] artifacts. So in general there is no way of leading normal relations with Serbia while both countries are still in a catastrophic shape.
What are ‘normal’ relations?
A ‘normal’ Kosovo means kicking out this ruling political elite from government and achieving sovereignty and economic development. ‘Normal’ for Serbia means facing its own criminal past and not glorifying [far-right Serbian Radical Party founder Vojislav] Šešelj, who used to oppose [ex-president Slobodan] Milošević by accusing him of being too soft on Albanians, Bosniaks and Croats. A regime change needs to take place in Serbia as well. As you can see in Eastern Europe right now, dictatorships are over but autocracy is back. Father figures like [Hungary’s Viktor] Orbán, [Serbia’s Aleksandar] Vučić, Thaçi and Putin are in fashion, unfortunately.
Why does the government of Kosovo agree with this normalization agreement?
For two reasons. The first reason is corruption: They are too corrupt to be free as politicians and honest towards their own nation. They are submissive and obedient towards the international community, which tolerates their corruption, because they apparently serve some higher goals — like stability. It’s a happy marriage of interests. The second reason is the inferiority complex that politicians of an oppressed nation seem to have. The fact that you were liberated and declared independence doesn’t mean that you are really free. Our politicians have an inferiority complex towards both Brussels and Belgrade.
What goals do the EU and the international community have for Kosovo?
The EU is interested in Russia not taking over Serbia. And I agree with that goal: A weaker Russia in the Balkans is better for all of Europe. But what the Serbian government really wants is to distance itself a bit from Russia, while getting stronger in the Balkans. Europe seems to have accepted that — for them it is no problem. Who is actually worried are countries like Albania, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo.
You were arrested several times, even a few times by EULEX Kosovo. Why?
The first file dealt with when EULEX came here was mine, not the corrupt criminals. That was because they had made good deals with the corrupt people within government. I was arrested for organizing the peaceful protest of February 10, 2007, when [United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo — UNMIK] police shot dead two protesters. Policemen who happen to be Romanian were briefly questioned as witnesses (not as suspects) and immediately left our country by taking their rifles with them.
UNMIK didn’t finish this case, for which I was held five months in prison and another five months under house arrest. So EULEX took it up immediately upon its arrival. Basically, after Kosovo’s declaration of independence, the U.N. became the EU and UNMIK became EULEX. The international ruling protectorate changed its name. EULEX is not here to bring justice. It’s here to discipline our political elite. Because what they want is stability. For them, the conflict should merely not occur again. But, in this manner, it can’t be solved either. The international community cares about short-term peace, stability and security. They have put us in the same category as Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan or Palestine. You could be a state but you are still in crisis and a crisis has to be managed. So what we need is justice, development, democracy, like “normal” countries.
Do you want Europe to leave Kosovo?
I’m not asking the EU to leave us. I want Kosovo to join the EU. Of course I want the EU to change as well. What I want is a different appearance of the EU here. Not with police, prosecutors and judges, who are not accountable to us and have diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution, but with experts in agriculture and economy. And a social democratic, “bottom up” dialogue and not a closed diplomatic one only among the leaders.
What about the treatment of minorities in Kosovo?
At first the [Ahtisaari peace] plan didn’t allow for minority and majority people within a state. It says that all are national communities. But then the declaration of independence in Kosovo was done by taking care only of the Serbs and forgetting about the other minorities. Other minorities are discriminated against.
So we come back to the claim for stability. We should start with what people have in common, so we can gain solidarity. That leads to cooperation. But that’s only the case in a normal country … starting with important social functions and a vision for economic development. If you want to integrate all minorities, we need development, because development brings jobs, jobs bring rights.
If you want to bring us together, we should start to produce, not only to consume. Unfortunately right now we have an unemployment rate spanning nearly half of the population and a trade deficit. That won’t change as long as enormous privatizations go on, and as long as a €1.2 billion pension fund does not benefit us because it is being used for speculations abroad while a corrupt elite profits.
Your party is dreaming the dream of an expanded Albania. How do you imagine it and why?
We would like Kosovo to have the right to join Albania. At present, our constitution does not allow us to join another country. We would like to do this peacefully and democratically in contrast to our separation, which was done violently by big powers.
