Has the Kosovo Government benefited from lobbying in Washington?

To improve relations with America, the Kosovo Government hired a lobbying agency in the US last summer, however, a year later, discordant tones are still prevalent in the Washington-Pristina relationship. Analysts, speaking with Kosovo Online, suggest that lobbying in America doesn't necessarily yield results, however, they point out that Kosovo benefits from the fact that the Albanian community there is very well organized.

Written by: Dusica Radeka Djordjevic

According to the contract signed last summer by Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora with the companies "Aferdita Rakipi Communications" and "Ambal", from Avni Mustafaj, the companies were expected to provide advice, support, and engage in communication with the legislative and executive branches of the US government to improve relations between the US and the Kosovo Government. About ten days ago, Radio Free Europe reported that from July last year to January 2024, Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora paid these two companies approximately $277,000 for lobbying in the US.

Not only opposition politicians but also many analysts in Kosovo criticize Albin Kurti's government almost daily for reducing relations with Washington to a low point.

About ten days ago, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller expressed concern over decisions made by Pristina that were not coordinated and called on the Kosovo government to return to constructive engagement with the US, EU, NATO, and other close international partners.

"We believe they have put at risk the opportunities that we helped Kosovo create," Miller said.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo also expressed concern in its statement.

"International community support has been crucial to Kosovo's progress, and any weakening of this support could have far-reaching consequences for the country's diplomatic and economic ambitions," the chamber stated.

When all is said and done, has the overseas investment by the Kosovo Government paid off?

Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Stevan Nedeljkovic, tells Kosovo Online that no lobbying initiative in Washington can bring results if the policy pursued is entirely opposed to that of the White House.

He assesses that it doesn't mean much for Kosovo that Pristina is "pouring" money into Washington and lobbying efforts, while having Albin Kurti in power, who is unyielding in his ideological views.

Nedeljkovic explains that it is a mistaken premise to think that if millions are poured into lobbying initiatives in Washington, it will yield significant results.

"You can pour in millions if you have a policy that is somewhat aligned with Washington at the given moment. If you approach Washington with a certain degree of pragmatism and have support in lobbying efforts, that synergy can yield results. If you are uncompromising, unpragmatic, and still pour in millions, your initiatives may end in failure," Nedeljkovic stated.

He added that Washington has a tradition of pragmatism, and if the logic of pragmatism isn't respected, and if one approaches Washington with unyielding ideas based on their own viewpoints, even with all the millions that can be spent on lobbyists, a positive outcome cannot be achieved.

Analyst and expert on the American political scene Obrad Kesic says for Kosovo Online that the United States does not agree with the tactics used by Albin Kurti and his timing of certain actions, which is why there have not been any significant public successes in meetings with US officials, despite the Kosovo Government hiring lobbying agencies in Washington.

According to Kesic, the US believes it would be much more effective to continue the negotiation process with Belgrade. The problem, however, is that Pristina is very impatient and wants to achieve all its goals overnight, while Washington, and even Brussels, understand that this is impossible.

"It might even be impossible to achieve the most desirable result, which is mutual recognition. Still, they believe that with patience, the path toward normalizing relations should be built through negotiations. The US does not like it when any side unilaterally does something that disrupts the negotiations or even sets the entire process back. This has happened several times with Pristina, leaving them, especially Kurti, isolated in terms of their policy. Consequently, lobbyists encounter closed doors. Where they could easily show success and schedule meetings at a significant level, those doors are no longer open, which describes the current relationship between Washington and Pristina," Kesic said.

However, Kesic points out that there has long been a very capable and strong Albanian lobby in the US, which, he says, is something that cannot be compensated for with money. This refers to Albanian communities, regardless of where these Albanians come from. He emphasizes that they are very well organized and actively participate in public and political life in the US.

"They are quite active and have positioned themselves well in terms of communication, especially with members of the US Congress. This is a significant advantage that Albanians have in the US When we talk about lobbying, there are three measures of how effective lobbying is. The first measure is this – how active the community is, and here we must tip our hats and acknowledge that Albanians are very active, well organized, and appear, which is very important, at all major political events, from local election races to now the presidential election race. The second very important thing is that they have allies who have built their positions within the American government structure over the past three decades. They may not agree with Pristina or like, or even now respect, Mr. Kurti, but that is less important in the sense that they generally support the political and national goals that have been well-defined by Pristina over the past two decades. And this is an advantage because, in the American government structures, they practically share the same goals with the political elite in Pristina," Kesic notes.

As the third measure, Kesic highlights the effectiveness of cooperation between the government in Pristina and the American administration and notes that there are problems in this area.

"Several times, the American administration has been unhappy with certain moves coming from Pristina, and now we are even entering a problematic phase in relations between Washington and Pristina. But because they essentially share the same goal, which is to consolidate the independence of so-called Kosovo, it doesn't matter when disagreements and conflicts arise because the general agenda, which they have jointly written in some way, is more important than the current conflict over tactics," Kesic said.

Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Pristina, Mazllum Baraliu, believes that Kosovo's position in the international community has deteriorated and that the current Kosovo Government needs to improve relations with foreign countries.

He recalls statements from the US State Department and US ambassadors from the region, indicating that some decisions made by the Kosovo government are not fully coordinated with the international community and the US, and he says that if this is indeed the case, then Kosovo "needs to fix something."

"It cannot be done without lobbying. It is not a sin. Lobbying is a completely normal practice in the West and in America. It is the legitimate right of every country. However, it shouldn't be done, as reported in the press, in the way that some previous Kosovo governments lobbied and provided funds to influential figures abroad to push for the disintegration of the country. There have been such lobbying efforts involving joint circles from Kosovo, Serbia, Albania, and some intelligence services. Serbia spends millions on lobbying. It is entirely normal for every country to lobby to improve its international position or to diminish someone else's position, as Serbia did with the de-recognitions of Kosovo," Baraliu stated for our portal.

The reason why the results of the lobbying efforts by the firms hired by the Kosovo Government in America are not visible, according to Demo Berisha, President of the Albanian National Council in Serbia, is that Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti has undermined his own position.

"He currently doesn't have the money in the budget to buy attention, as we can see from the attitude toward his party and him personally. On the other hand, the Albanian diaspora is strong and respectable, and it invests much more money than the ministry (of foreign affairs) led by Donika Gervalla and Albin Kurti's government," Berisha said for Kosovo Online.

As he added, Kurti no longer listens to the Quint countries or the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, and has become accustomed, Berisha noted, to provoking incidents from which he has previously managed to extricate himself by relying on decisions from the Quint countries, especially the US administration.

"For a long time now, the US administration has been warning Kurti that he must consult before taking action, but he takes action first and then consults. However, the US administration has also not done its part of the job. Take, for example, the recent closure of nine Serbian postal offices in Kosovo. The US administration condemned that act but took no further steps to restore the situation to its original state," Berisha concluded.

When asked for his opinion on whether the relations between the US and the Kosovo Government have advanced as a result of the lobbying efforts by the companies hired by the Kosovo government last summer, former US Ambassador to Belgrade William Montgomery recently told Kosovo Online that he did not know if the lobbying had been successful.

"Unfortunately, the role of lobbyists in the United States has continuously increased over time. It would be impossible for me to even estimate how many companies, countries, political parties, and even wealthy individuals have believed that a lobbyist in Washington is essential. Therefore, it is not surprising to hear that Kurti and his government have done this. I have no idea whether this has been successful at all," Montgomery said.

The American diplomat also commented that Albin Kurti's long-term goal is the departure of all Serbs from Kosovo.

"But his short-term and medium-term goal is to provoke the Serbian Government into taking actions that will help him, probably including lobbyists, to confirm that Kosovo deserves support. I congratulate the Serbian Government on its forbearance in the face of these acts. I would like to see more signs of appreciation from the US and the EU for that forbearance," Montgomery emphasized.