Kurti: Hovenier warned me that the situation in the north could deteriorate irreversibly

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said that he had agreed to a compromise on the issue of license plates, after the American ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, had warned him that the situation in the north of Kosovo could deteriorate irreversibly.

German journalist Michael Martens announced on Twitter, as he stated, an extensive interview with Kurti on all important topics concerning Kosovo, which will be published in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" newspaper.

According to Martens, Kurti stated that Hovenier had warned him that the situation in the north of Kosovo "could seriously and irreversibly deteriorate".

"The US ambassador had more information than I did about the situation in the north," Kurti said, without going into details.

Kurti also assessed that the "unusually honest and very harsh criticism" addressed to him by the High EU Representative for Foreign Affair and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, had been unconstructive.

"I'm not stubborn, I'm principled," Kurti said.

He also confirmed that Kosovo will officially apply for EU membership in December.

Martins adds that he also discussed with Kurti the role of Borrell and EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak as European mediators, as well as the essence of the Franco-German proposal for the solution of the issue between Kosovo and Serbia.

According to Martens, there were also discussions about the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the issue of Serbia's recognition of Kosovo.

"Would Kurti recognize Kosovo if he was in Vucic’s shoes? Or, in other words: Why would Vucic do that if the prize that once seemed to be in sight has disappeared," was one of the questions in the interview, Martens says.

In the announcement of the interview with Kurti, he added that there had also been some discussion about reciprocity for minorities; the fact that the EU and the US demand the formation of the CSM, as well as visa liberalization; Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, and other topics.