‘No blackmail’: Prime Minister of Kosovo defies Western pressure on relations with Serbia

Under increasing pressure from his US and European allies to reach an agreement with Serbia, Kosovo’s prime minister warned on Wednesday that he would not succumb to “blackmail”.

Relations between Belgrade and its ex-province have gone from crisis to crisis and the Western powers are eager to end the cycle of tensions in this corner of Southeastern Europe.

The deadline for Kosovo to make a pact with its old enemy is fast approaching.

In an interview with AFP, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti claimed that the US and EU had demanded that Belgrade and Pristina reach an agreement by March.

For months, European and American diplomats shuttled between the two capitals for this purpose, he explained.

At the heart of the tensions between the couple is Belgrade’s refusal to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

The former Serbian province, home to an Albanian majority, broke off in 2008, a decade after a bloody war that ended only with a US-led NATO bombing campaign.

February 17 marks the 15th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence.

According to Kurti, the “centrepiece” of any pact should be Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo, which, with the support of its Russian ally, is preventing Pristina from taking a seat at the UN.

“Our biggest obstacle is that Belgrade persists in its search for a time machine,” the Kosovo leader insisted.

But “it’s not possible. Kosovo is an independent country and it would be better if Serbia recognized it,” he continued, claiming that this could speed up Belgrade’s European integration.

Western powers, led by the US, want the small Balkan region of 1.8 million inhabitants to establish an association of municipalities where members of the Serbian minority live. This idea was first proposed under an agreement signed ten years ago under the eyes of Brussels.

Kurti argues that this would amount to creating a potentially subversive Serbian power alongside Kosovar institutions.

Kosovo’s Serbian minority, numbering about 120,000, refuses loyalty to Pristina’s government. Encouraged by Belgrade, there were protests and occasional violent incidents at the end of last year, especially in the north.

“We can’t be blackmailed,” Kurti said. “We cannot be afraid. We are a brave people who demand fair treatment, equality and mutual recognition.”

“It is not fair to put pressure on the most pro-European, the most pro-American, the most democratic country in the Western Balkans,” he said. “It is Belgrade that should be under pressure. Serbia is not a normal country. Serbia does not know where its borders are”.

Serbian President Alexander Vucic also recently complained that he was being pressured by the West to normalize relations with Kosovo.

“They said: you have to accept this plan, otherwise you will face an interruption of the European accession process, a halt and withdrawal of investments and a series of economic and political measures that will do a lot of damage to the Republic of Serbia,” he said against Serbian television.