Krasniqi: Kosovo is not sovereign but a "client state", Kurti showed unbridled arrogance

Albin Kurti indeed is to blame for the deterioration of Kosovo's relations with the US, but it is also true that he inherited this tendency to deteriorate trust from his predecessors in the government, from the first to the last, political analyst, Milazim Krasniqi, writes for Ekonomia Online.

He made a whole list of events that, in his opinion, had influenced this development of relations.

"Political violence immediately after the war, both against local Serbs and political activists, was a kind of shock for Americans. How could those who were victims until yesterday become perpetrators of crimes? They tried to stop that trend by creating a joint representation ( Albright and Hill), but one of our parties refused it and the situation slipped even more towards some kind of political and security anarchy," Krasniqi writes.

The riots of March 2004 added, he says, even more cracks in the trust and vision, courage, and honesty of Kosovo's political representatives.

"Privatization, often thuggish and widespread corruption, caused confusion and disappointment among the Americans. After gaining independence, ideas appeared that undermined the independence of Kosovo, the union with Albania, and the exchange of territories with Serbia. The demarcation with Montenegro was forcibly rejected, although approval was a strategic interest of NATO because it was a prerequisite for Montenegro's membership in NATO. Institutions were brutally attacked, once the American ambassador was also attacked," Krasniqi writes.

He recalls that there were attempts to annul the Special Court and the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities.

"There was no government that was willing to form a Community of Serb-majority Municipalities with more lenient terms and a deadline than those in circulation today. It became a game without any meaning, contrary to clear American recommendations. Disappointed and confused, the voters put all the stakes on Kurti, making him a prime minister with great power. Wrongly elevated to such a role, instead of prudence, Kurti showed unbridled arrogance. He made the fatal mistake of creating a problem with license plates, where he showed adventurism, not leadership - and thus caused an avalanche of Serbian reactions to his rule." Krasniqi points out.

Due to the geopolitical changes brought about by the Russian aggression on Ukraine, he points out, now Serbia is encouraged by the West to break away from Russian influence, so the avalanche according to Kurti came down not only from Serbia but also from the West.

"This avalanche carries the danger of damaging not only Kurti but also Kosovo. But, this avalanche has been prepared for a long time. It is an avalanche towards hypocritical, abusive, and incompetent elite, but it also seems towards a state that does not want to become a state. In the last case, Kurti legitimately represents that majority, which does not prove by civil action that it loves Kosovo as a state. We must also be clear about this last point: the US, i.e. NATO, can keep Kosovo under control and in its own sphere even without a partnership with the governments of Kosovo. This is absolutely made possible by the Military-Technical Agreement of June 9, 1999, and Security Council Resolution 1244 of June 10, 1999, which have no time limit and practically no limit to imposing the will on the authorities. Unfortunately, our politicians have not, all these years, understood the vassalage of the state of Kosovo, which is more of a security than a democratic problem. Many of them, including Albin Kurti, tried to act as supposedly sovereign politicians, (even in disloyalty to the US) since our state is a de jure and de facto client state, not a sovereign one,” Milazim Krasniqi concludes.