Spahiu: If the U.S. wanted to influence government formation, it wouldn’t have waited until the last minute

University professor Nexhmedin Spahiu told Kosovo Online that he does not believe the U.S. will interfere in the formation of Kosovo's new government. He noted that the opposition PDK hopes Richard Grenell will visit Kosovo and "intimidate" representatives of minority communities to prevent them from joining a coalition with Albin Kurti, which would, in turn, stop him from forming a government.

Spahiu stated that it is difficult to predict what message Washington would send if Grenell, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, were to visit Kosovo soon, given that Donald Trump has been in office for just over a month.

He pointed out that Trump’s recent message to Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani on the 17th anniversary of Kosovo's declaration of independence was a strong show of support.

"He called Kosovo a determined and persistent nation—something even Kosovo's own leaders don’t say about it. Grenell conveyed a similar message, though he had some 'pointed' words for Albin Kurti, even without mentioning him directly. He praised Hashim Thaçi, which was essentially an attack on Kurti, though it still represented support for Kosovo as a state, as an entity. From that perspective, considering these two statements, we can conclude that nothing significant is likely to change," Spahiu assessed.

"If the U.S. administration wanted to be involved in forming Kosovo's government, I believe it would have done so ten or more days ago and wouldn't have waited until the last minute. The government will be formed based on the election results," Spahiu concluded.