Muhaxhiri: Kurti's policy of supporting politicians in the region is unsuccessful

Prime Minister Albin Kurti does not have real power in other countries, he can support a politician or a political group, but it is not decisive support and has shown to be unsuccessful, political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri says for Kosovo Online.

In Kurti's involvement in the pre-election campaign for local elections in Presevo and Bujanovac and the participation of his Self-Determination members in the recent elections in North Macedonia, Muhaxhiri sees a "symbolic approach and style of politics" without long-term effect.

“He experienced a fiasco in Albania, his faction also lost in the elections in North Macedonia, even though they will be part of the government there, they came second in votes among the Albanian population. Now, in Presevo, he supported the former mayor but lost in Bujanovac. It is obvious that such a policy is not very successful. Prime Minister Kurti has not had great success in Kosovo in economic development to project that model of governance elsewhere,” Muhaxhiri says.

Regarding whether such a policy by Kurti, even if symbolic, could provoke negative reactions in the region, this analyst says that regional leaders are familiar with Kurti's populist thinking and do not perceive it as a risky approach.

“Kurti has so many problems in Kosovo that he absolutely cannot have enough time to deal with the problems of other countries and other people, since in Kosovo we have a deep economic crisis and many other problems, we are under EU sanctions, so he should work more on solving Kosovo's problems before trying to improve the lives of Albanians in other countries because they have their own political representatives. It is very difficult to influence political parties and leaders in other countries because it requires a lot of people, financial resources, and party structures, which Kurti does not have. He improvises a lot with these supports, and I don't think it will have a long-term effect,” Muhaxhiri assesses.

Many see the source of Kurti's actions in the region as a rivalry with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and our interlocutor says that might be the case but he points out that Albania is much more powerful than Kosovo.

“Albania has influence in international organizations, while Kosovo is not a member of the United Nations or NATO and cannot have the influence that Albania can have in practical and specific ways. Maybe only in some pseudo-patriotic way, but absolutely not in a real and concrete manner,” Muhaxhiri emphasizes.