Arsovski: Kurti wants to establish himself as a regional leader of the Albanians

Tirana and Pristina have always had a certain paternalistic approach towards the Albanians in the region. Albin Kurti wants to establish himself as a regional leader of the Albanians, a position for which Pristina and Tirana have been competing for a long time, political analyst Petar Arsovski says for Kosovo Online, commenting on Kurti's involvement in the pre-election campaign for local elections in Presevo and Bujanovac, as well as the participation of members of Kurti's party in the recent elections in North Macedonia.

"Considering that Edi Rama has called several times for Macedonian-Albanian politicians to coordinate in some way, I think Kurti feels this as some kind of imbalance, which he is trying to overcome by projecting his political influence in both North Macedonia and Albania, especially in North Macedonia," Arsovski adds.

Regarding how such a policy might affect the region, our interlocutor says that it will certainly be negatively perceived in North Macedonia, especially among ethnic Macedonians.

"Ethnic Albanians view it more calmly and tolerantly. It is not a big surprise that Albanians in the region coordinate around some regional issues; we had the May platform, Self-Determination participated in the elections in North Macedonia through its representatives. Much will depend on whether the region continues to move towards the EU or not. If the region continues towards the EU, such regional coordination will become political folklore, but if it halts on the way to the EU, it will create tensions or local regional instability," Arsovski believes.

He says that he does not fully understand the dynamics of the rivalry between Edi Rama and Albin Kurti, but notes that Tirana and Pristina have always had a certain need to be regional leaders.

"We have seen that Edi Rama projected that political landscape even in Athens, so regional Albanian political leaders want to expand that influence, especially as they believe that major geostrategic and geosecurity policies should be negotiated together at the level of Albanians. I do not believe that this policy will stop, and the effect it will have on the region will depend on whether the region enters the EU or not. If it stops, the effect will be negative; if we continue moving towards the EU, it will be positive," Arsovski says.