Berisha: Kurti is counting on the diaspora for the elections, but the conflict with the Serbian community will be his downfall

The President of the Albanian National Council, Demo Berisha, says for Kosovo Online that Albin Kurti is increasingly turning to the diaspora because general elections are approaching, but he believes that Kurti's conflict with the Serbian community will cost him dearly "because no one wants war anymore."

Kurti recently stated that no one has a diaspora more connected to their homeland than Kosovo. Berisha notes that this claim is partially true, but not to the extent that Kurti portrays.

He emphasizes that the Albanian diaspora from Kosovo consists of about 1,200,000 citizens who have gone to Europe, primarily Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and increasingly Slovenia, either for temporary work or under some contracts.

"All political parties from Kosovo have their presence there. Kurti is certainly counting on them and trying to get their attention for the simple reason that general elections await him in 2025. So, he is using every opportunity to draw the diaspora's attention towards Self-Determination, and his political goal has actually been to maintain that contact with them, but not in the context that he suggests, that he is the first and exclusive leader who controls the diaspora," the President of the Albanian National Council says.

He points out that the third and fourth generations, who maintain family ties with Kosovo, have already grown up in the diaspora, but he notes that this is an "illusory matter."

"It shouldn't be forgotten that this is an illusory matter because Albanians from Kosovo are no longer patriots in the way they used to be. Yes, some of them participated in the 1999 war, but that time has passed," Berisha assesses.

Regarding economic issues, he says there is no need to discuss Albin Kurti's policies because they are disastrous and are the main reason for the population's emigration from Kosovo.

"They haven't brought anything to improve the lives of Kosovo citizens. The departure of Kosovo Albanians is proof that he has done nothing in economic terms. The opening of the Office for the Diaspora and other concessions he is now making are nothing more than his election campaign, which has been ongoing since the beginning of this year," he says.

Berisha adds that Kurti has now taken the "most risky move," which is the conflict with the Serbian community in the north.

"The opening of the bridge on one side and the accumulation of police forces in the north on the other will certainly cost him, and it can be said that his election outcome is uncertain because no one wants war anymore. Least of all, the citizens of Kosovo, as a large number of people, more than 1.2 million of the Albanian diaspora from Kosovo, are living abroad. So, this is his chess move that will be his downfall," he concludes.