Will Kurti's government fall because of Milan Radoicic?

The affair revealed in the Pristina media, centered on the head of the parliamentary group of Self-Determination, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, and her admission that she had phone conversations with the vice-president of the Serb List, Milan Radoicic, raised political tensions in Pristina to the maximum, even to the point of physical confrontation between representatives of the government and the opposition in the Kosovo parliament yesterday. Such an outcome also raised the question of whether the government of Albin Kurti will fall because of Radoicic, who has not been in Kosovo for some time, but apparently has a great influence even from a distance.

There is no dilemma for the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, due to the content of the recordings that were leaked to the public, in which Kusari-Lila confirms in a conversation with Slavko Simic that she spoke with Radoicic on several occasions, according to them, Kurti's government must resign, the assembly to dissolve and call for extraordinary parliamentary elections.

Self-Determianation retorts that the attacks on Kurti came at a very sensitive moment and that this is a deliberate attack "on the first government whose Prime Minister and ministers are not controlled by Belgrade".

And, the affair broke out at a very sensitive moment, in which Kurti, faced with pressure from the West and threats of sanctions, at least apparently had to give in to his hard policy towards the north of Kosovo. After a persistent refusal, Kurti nevertheless agreed to withdraw part of the policemen from the municipal buildings in Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zvecan, where the Serb protests have been going on for a month and a half due to the presence of Special Forces, the imposition of illegitimate Albanian mayors and groundless arrests.

The director of the Institute for the Affirmation of Inter-Ethnic Relations in Pristina, Fatmir Sheholli, pointed out that Milan Radoicic, the vice-president of the Serb List, had absolutely removed the "facade" of Self-Determination with the latest events in Kosovo.

As he adds, Self-Determination always wanted to present itself as a political entity that tried in every possible way to, by criticizing the Serb List, gain points with the Albanians.

"In short, Radoicic removed the facade from Self-Determination and showed who they are," Sheholli told Kosovo Online.

At the same time, Sheholli says that Radoicic, from what can be seen, has great influence and respect among the Serbs, and the Serbs in Kosovo definitely perceive him as the greatest leader since Serbian parliamentarianism existed in Kosovo.

Sheholli is sure that after the latest events in the Assembly of Kosovo, i.e. the fight between the representatives of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the members of the Government of Kosovo, Albin Kurti will not be able to maintain the power he currently has.

According to him, what happened in the Assembly is a terrible event precisely because Self-Determination has always dealt with and tried to hold the "diploma" that they are inviolable in relation to the Serbs, but in fact, says Sheholli, they are the biggest falsifiers of everything that they are talked before.

Sheholli also points to the announcements of protests by the KLA War Veterans Association, as well as a large number of the members of the civil sector.

"Seeing what is happening in the Assembly, announcements of protests by the KLA War Veterans Association and civil sector activists say that large protests and demonstrations will soon take place in Kosovo. After those protests, Kurti will not be able to maintain the power he currently has," Sheholli concludes.

Historian Srdjan Graovac from the Center for Social Stability tells Kosovo Online that the published audio recording of the conversation between Kusari-Lila and Slavko Simic in which he talks about his contacts with Radoicic is a significant asset in the hands of the opposition and will further destabilize the government of Albin Kurti.

According to him, although this scandal is "of a very high level", for the definitive overthrow of the government, it may be necessary for the Western powers to intervene.

Graovac assesses that Milan Radoicic is perceived by the Albanian public and in Kosovo as someone who is a special threat, he points out that Kurti contributed a lot to this with his views and statements he made about the vice-president of the Serb List, and adds that, among other things, all the intelligence information that was collected by the Serbian side says that the Albanians are very wary of him.

He reminds that when the Albanians sent their Special Forces to the north; they always followed the movements of the Serbs in the north, and Milan Radoicic was especially wanted.

"This speaks of a fear that Albanians have of Milan Radoicic, therefore his mention in the conversation between Kusari-Lila and Simic is something that the opposition will use against Kurti. They will try to present it as evidence of his connection with Radoicic and some kind of the secret agreements that exist between Kurti on the one hand and the Serb List, i.e. Radoicic, on the other, indirectly through certain intermediaries," Graovac said.

That reputation of Radoicic, which was artificially created by the Albanian corps in Kosovo, is something that will definitely affect the discrediting and drop in the rating of Albin Kurti, according to our interlocutor.

According to him, there is no doubt that the Albanian opposition will "exploit" that recording, but the question is how much it will harm Kurti in the short term.

"The question is how much it can harm him, there is no doubt that the Albanian opposition will exploit it, tensions will be raised, but I am not sure that this alone will lead to the fall of Kurti's government," Graovac said.

According to him, the key to the survival of Kurti's government is in the hands of the Western powers, who "can, if they need a conversation with Radoicic, use it as an excuse and reason for the change of government in Kosovo.

"What, in my opinion, can lead to the fall of Kurti's government, and this case can serve as an occasion for it, is the will of the Western factor that has a decisive influence on Kosovo and Metohija, who is the "shock and awe" there, and they call all the shots. If they need an excuse to demolish Albin Kurti, then these talks can certainly serve that purpose. What is obvious is that the opposition in Kosovo is preparing some kind of Kurti's replacement and putting pressure on him, and whether this will serve as a reason for his removal depends only on the will of the Western factor," Graovac said.

For now, according to his assessment, the West is using that recording and the whole situation as a means of pressure, so that Kurti would return to the dialogue.