Radakovic: Ultrationalistic rhetoric led to a split in Albin Kurti's party

Ultrationalistic rhetoric, unfulfilled promises, and pressure from the international community have led to a split in Albin Kurti's party, according to the executive director of the NGO Center for Advocacy of Democratic Culture from North Mitrovica, Dusan Radakovic. He tells Kosovo Online that many members of the Self-Determination parliamentary group are no longer as committed to the party, which is why numerous laws and international acts cannot pass in the Assembly, so he does not expect anything concrete regarding the CSM.

"There is definitely a gap emerging within Self-Determination itself. It started with Haki Abazi, and before that, we remember the departure of Visar Ymeri from the party before the last and penultimate elections, then the former mayor of Pristina, and so on... I think that slowly this ultranationalistic rhetoric is reaching its epilogue, that people within the party, people of a social democratic orientation, have realized that this way of pressure, EU sanctions, and everything that is happening, generally the pressure towards the Serbian community, base, expropriation, arrests... affects people's orientation away from the ideology of ultranationalism and hatred towards a nation and a community," Radakovic says.

He explains that an excellent example of the rift that exists is that the Assembly cannot adopt numerous decisions, but they go through administrative instructions and sub-legal acts.

"There is no law in the Assembly that can pass; a large number of laws regarding the international community are on hold because the necessary 61 votes are lacking. And it's not just five or six in total; some data I have indicates that nine or ten members of the Self-Determination parliamentary group are no longer as committed to the party as they were in the previous period, so I say laws are struggling to pass," our interlocutor states.

He adds that people are also influenced by the fact that many things promised during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns have not been fulfilled, as well as increasing pressure from the international community.

"It's not just pressure on the Serbian population, the lack of dialogue, sanctions, every day increasing pressure from the international community, primarily the US, that things must move, the lack of that famous internal dialogue with the Serbian community... All these things affect people within the party to turn more towards a different rhetoric, a different view generally on democracy compared to the current state," Radakovic believes.

Commenting on the different views on the CSM draft within Self-Determination, he assesses that there are disagreements about how it should be implemented.

"The fact is that the international community is pressuring that it is one of the conditions to be accepted by the Council of Europe. The second is the return of land to Visoki Decani, and maybe as a third, the withdrawal of four mayors from northern Kosovo, or the organization of elections. All of this contributes to the rift, primarily due to the different views on how the Community of Serb Municipalities should be implemented," he notes.

He adds that this year he does not expect anything concrete regarding the CSM, primarily due to this split and the upcoming elections.

"There is now great pressure because of the Council of Europe, but I don't expect anything concrete because of the elections. They are waiting for a new four-year mandate, I think in some coalition, maybe with Ramush Haradinaj's party or possibly with Pacolli to gain that majority, around 70 MPs. So I don't expect anything concrete this year, maybe towards the end or possibly the beginning of next year," Radakovic says.