Gudzic: The political elites of Kosovo Albanians need to think about what will happen when Serbs and Albanians are left alone here

Historian Aleksandar Gudzic tells Kosovo Online that the parties of the wartime coalition in Kosovo, as well as Ibrahim Rugova's party in the past, have shown willingness to cooperate with the Serbs, however, he states that their return to power is now only a theoretical possibility, as at the moment Albin Kurti is the absolute master of the political scene in Kosovo.

"Thanks to extreme nationalism, Kurti has homogenized his voter base and is now the most popular politician in Kosovo. The dominant narrative that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s in Kosovo is that the Serbs are the exclusive culprits for the war. The political elites of Kosovo Albanians behave as if history has had the final say and forget that empires come and go from these parts. What will happen the day when the US empire expires? When Serbs and Albanians find themselves face to face? This is the question that the political elites of Kosovo Albanians should be thinking about. The Serbs and the Albanians will remain here even when Americans are gone and when Russians are gone," Gudzic noted.

When asked what remained for the Serbs in Kosovo if there was no political force among the Albanians willing to extend a public hand to them for a coexistence agreement, Gudzic notes that their only option is to try to cooperate and negotiate, as even the worst negotiations are better than conflict.

However, he recalls that Albanian society is homogenized when it comes to national ideas and the right of the Albanians from Kosovo to reunite with Albania and create a "Greater Albania", an idea that has been present and alive since 1878 and one that unites Albanians.

Furthermore, he adds that both Belgrade and Pristina need to find a compromise solution by acknowledging certain facts.

"To acknowledge the fact that for the Serbs, Kosovo is an area of the most sacred historical memories, in a word, a holy land - what Israel is for Jews, Mohacs for Hungarians, the Alps for Swiss, Ararat for Armenians. But, the Serbs also need to acknowledge the fact that Albanians represent the majority here. With these two answers given to themselves, both Serbs and Albanians can reach a compromise solution," Gudzic concluded.