Dzihic: Kosovo has lost a year and its reputation

Kosovo has lost a year due to the fact that institutions in Pristina have still not been formed, and this has also had negative consequences for its reputation, pointed out Vedran Dzihic, a political scientist from the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.

“If for a year we have no consensus and instead have political battles, fought from party trenches, that means many processes are blocked,” Dzihic told Kosovo Online.

He stressed that Kosovo—both the Albanian majority and minority communities—needs progress in the economy, as well as in education and healthcare.

“There are many reforms waiting to be implemented and many open issues. When all is said and done, this is a lost year,” Dzihic underlined.

He noted that life must go on and that Kosovo has not come to a standstill, since Albin Kurti’s government, operating in a technical mandate, has tried to carry out certain tasks despite not having a full mandate.

“The question is when a new government will be formed and what the new priorities will be—namely, whether Kurti will, in addition to foreign policy issues and disputes with Serbia, turn to substantive issues such as reforms and the progress of Kosovo society. We will see this very soon,” Dzihic is convinced.

In addition to time, he says, Kosovo has also partly lost its image as a stable place, precisely due to the absence of an executive authority with a full mandate.

“Some processes that are crucial for Kosovo could not move forward, such as progress on the European path, where there are difficulties due to non-recognizing EU member states, but above all due to the dialogue, because for a year there have been no developments at all,” Dzihic explained.