Radojkovic: Osmani is trying to repair relations with the US that Kurti damaged

Historian Stefan Radojkovic emphasized that Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani uses every opportunity to present herself to the public as a leader capable of building constructive relations with Kosovo’s partners, especially with the United States, while at the same time attempting to repair relations with the administration of US President Donald Trump, which, he notes, have been largely damaged by Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

On two occasions, Osmani posted on social media a letter she received from Trump, in which he expressed his gratitude for what he described as courageous leadership, and his expectation that good cooperation would continue in the future – first on August 5, and then again on August 7, when Serbia’s Foreign Minister Marko Djuric met in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

According to Radojkovic, Osmani is campaigning just as much as Kurti, but with a different view on whose support is most necessary.

“She is campaigning just like Albin Kurti, only they have slightly different strategic decisions regarding whose support they need. It is clear to the Albanian public in Kosovo and Metohija that Pristina is unsustainable without US support – especially now, when the US is focused on Ukraine and the Middle East, and with strategic competition with China looming on the horizon. In other words, Kosovo will certainly not be a primary or high-priority item on the agenda, and in that sense, the strained relations between Washington and Pristina are a cause for concern among certain groups in Kosovo and Metohija,” Radojkovic said.

He stressed that the alliance with the US is very important for Kosovo’s citizens, but that they also see it as endangered. In that context, he says, Osmani uses every chance to present herself as a leader who can build constructive relations with partners, while sending a message to the US administration that she wants to repair the damaged relations, relations that, in his view, Kurti has greatly affected.

“In that sense, Vjosa Osmani sees her opportunity, on the one hand, to try to repair those relations as much as possible, and on the other, to emphasize her candidacy as someone who can build constructive ties with all of Pristina’s partners, whether they are the US or EU member states, though the US is more important to them. That is why Osmani insists on her relations with Trump, because she knows, among other things, that there are people in Trump’s administration who are not favorable toward Albin Kurti, and potentially not favorable at all toward the Albanian community in Kosovo and Metohija,” the historian said.

He added that emphasizing loyalty to the US and Trump is a “safe card” in the campaign, given that the broader Albanian public understands Kosovo needs US support, even though the Self-Determination Movement has long pursued a policy of self-reliance.

Radojkovic believes Osmani will also use her ties with the US to distance herself from Kosovo’s acting government, in case new elections are held in which Self-Determination suffers a further drop in public support.

“The Albanian public believes they must have the support of the international community, even though Self-Determination has long based its political activity on the platform of self-sufficiency. But it is clear that the Pristina administration is neither self-sufficient nor self-sustaining, and the people in Kosovo and Metohija understand that the support of the international community, particularly the US, is crucial for the sustainability of the Kosovo project. In that sense, Osmani will seek to repair the ties damaged by Albin Kurti’s actions to some degree, and to use that as a way to create distance from Kurti’s acting government in case new elections are held, where he might see a further decline in votes and support among the Albanian population,” Radojkovic concluded.