Krstic: Kurti would most like to join the EU without fulfilling anything he promised to the Serbs

Milan Krstic, an associate professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, says for Kosovo Online that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti would prefer to join the EU without fulfilling any of his promises to the Serbs, commenting on the statement made by the Kosovo Prime Minister at yesterday's Western Balkans Leaders' Summit in Skopje, suggesting that the process of Kosovo's entry into the Union should be separated from the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

"This is Kurti's clear maximalist radical agenda, from which he essentially does not deviate, so it's not a novelty. However, I believe he won't succeed in that. On the other hand, the fact is that Kurti has been given more leeway than necessary in the previous period. Until the Banja Luka meeting, the pressure was exclusively on him, and after Banja Luka, that pressure was evenly distributed between Belgrade and Pristina," Krstic emphasized.

He adds that, concerning Belgrade, one of the current priorities should undoubtedly be the factual position of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, which would be seriously jeopardized in the event of the discontinuation of financial transactions.

"This is indeed an option that no one has dared to bring up in the last 25 years, or specifically since 2008 and the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence, because the repercussions are known. They could lead to the effective prevention of a normal life for a large number of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, to a humanitarian crisis," our interlocutor said.

As he emphasized, he sincerely hopes that international actors will be aware of this and exert pressure, which they can still do, on Albin Kurti not to pursue such a solution.

"I fear he will be persistent, as he has been persistent in his intentions so far, and he will try to implement it from February 1," Krstic emphasized.