Matoshi: Before every election Kurti produces an enemy – previously Serbs, now the media

Analyst Halil Matoshi accused the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, of creating enemies ahead of every election, noting that in the previous three election cycles those enemies were Serbs, while now he is entering the campaign with a new enemy – the media.

Commenting on Kurti’s accusations against journalists and the media, he stated that Kurti is entering the election campaign with a new adversary.

“Every time Albin Kurti leads the country toward early elections, he fabricates an enemy. In the last three elections, the enemy was Serbia and the Serbs. In the upcoming elections, it appears that this enemy has been exhausted. Kurti is entering the campaign with a new enemy – the media and journalists,” Matoshi told Gazeta Blic.

He added that, if Kurti has information about illegal financing, he should request the declassification of the files of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency and submit his claims to the court.

“What should a normal prime minister do if he has reliable information that media and journalists are being paid by enemies? If Prime Minister Albin Kurti has information that journalists are being paid with ‘bags of money’, he is obliged, by his oath of office, to request the declassification of the files and forward the accusations to a regular court, with full names. And if he does not find evidence, he must abandon hostile rhetoric, as it divides society and weakens state cohesion – unless that is his hidden objective,” Matoshi stated.

He added that, if there are grounds to argue that Kurti is using dangerous rhetoric toward the media and introducing censorship prohibited by the Constitution, a criminal complaint should be filed without delay and the matter left to the courts.

“Freedom must have trust in the law,” Matoshi concluded.

Kurti said today in the Assembly of Kosovo that speech cannot be free if it is captured by hidden interests.

“Democracy does not live only from the votes of citizens, but also from the spoken word. And that word must be free in order to be valid. But speech cannot be free if it is captured by hidden interests. Reports on financing through bags of money are not only a matter of professional ethics, but a direct threat to the integrity of public debate. Because when money enters invisibly, it does not only buy media space, but also buys influence, directs the narrative and ultimately misinforms the citizen,” Kurti said.