Why does Albin Kurti prevent Edi Rama?

2023-06-12 23:02:00, Opinione Armand Shkullaku

Journalist Armand Shkullaku

Prime Minister Edi Rama once again used a commemorative day, such as the entry of NATO troops and the liberation of Kosovo from Serbian repression, to attack Albin Kurti.

"... Today is the day to reflect deeply and to get Kosovo out of the dead end where the absurd quarrel with the allies has put it! Kosovo must definitely get out of the impasse with dialogue not with the police, with concrete ideas not with propaganda, with good friends not with mistreatment of friends!", writes Rama.

The Albanian Prime Minister could certainly have chosen a more unifying and solidary message, instead of deepening the gap with the rest of the nation. He could remember on this very day that Kosovo, for almost a quarter of a century, is already a reality, which the sooner Serbia recognizes, the closer peace and stability in the Balkans will be. Edi Rama had the opportunity today to commemorate the sacrifice of those who made NATO's intervention possible, and who today are behind bars in The Hague. He could also write that in a short time, Kosovo has managed to be the most democratic country in the region and, why not, express support to the citizens there that Albania will be by their side in the difficult challenges they are facing.

But instead of such a message, Rama chose to set himself at a higher height, from where he gives ultimate recommendations that Kosovo must "definitely get out" of the impasse where, according to him, it is today. And this dead end is the Kosovo police in the north of the country, Kurti's propaganda and the mistreatment of allied friends. Rama has gone even further than the criticism of the internationals themselves, towards the position of Albin Kurti. Meanwhile, not a single word mentions the reason why ATO was forced to intervene militarily 24 years ago, nor the real cause of the conflict in the north of Kosovo.

No one is asking the Albanian prime minister to say what his Croatian counterpart said a week ago that, as long as Serbia does not recognize the reality of an independent and sovereign Kosovo, for as long the tensions in this part of the Balkans will continue. Rama may not feel it necessary or may not have the power to show his major allies that recognition of Kosovo by Serbia is a prerequisite for good relations and stability, but why should the leader of Albania, as soon as he gets the chance , point to official Pristina as responsible for the "dead end".

The reason for this behavior of an Albanian prime minister, at a delicate moment for Kosovo, should not be sought in his concern for Pristina's break with the allies. Not even the conspiracy theories that he is playing behind the scenes an agenda concocted by Vucic. It is something simpler.

Rama is hindered by the personality of a leader like Albin Kurti in Kosovo. Wanting to be the first violin in the region in front of the western audience, just like Vu?i? for the Serbs on the other side, his lack of influence on Kurti has somehow reduced his relevance, especially in decisive moments. Rama cannot be the main negotiator together with Vucic on regional issues, not to mention Pristina. With Albin Kurti, the saw is stuck in the nail.

The failure of the Open Balkans, which Rama and Vucic presented to the world as a peace and regional cooperation project, was the heaviest stone that Kurti put around their necks to calculate the weight of Kosovo in any other possible agreement. In the same way, all other movements of Kurt in relation to both Serbia and the international factor made it clear that for Kosovo there is a center with which to negotiate.

The diminution of Rama's role in the regional chessboard, the undoing of his delirium to present himself as the leader who would bring the missing century-long peace between Albanians and Serbs, are the reasons why Kurti has been targeted. Rama does not want a strong personality in Pristina, who takes a leading role in relation to the West, but someone who will go after his projects and sell them to the West.

This is the main reason, that today, when Kurti finds himself in a delicate moment with the international allies, Rama is doing his best to give him one more push to overthrow him. From the game to use the association of municipalities with a Serbian majority as a means of pressure on Kurti and to the teaching that he does to the idea that the latter is isolating Kosovo by "mistreating his friends".

But apart from the reason of regional protagonism, which serves to gain international support to tolerate corruption and the deformation of democracy in Albania, Rama is also fighting Kurti as a model that reveals his way of doing politics. Kurti is standing in front of his allies, believing in the principles for which they voted him. He is the opposite of Rama, who is ready to say "yes" to everything, as long as his seat is not at risk. He is even ready to lobby and attract international support, only in function of his power. Kurti does not have this concern and his electoral power, which originates precisely from these attitudes, leaders like Rama are forced to buy through lobbying and promises. If Kurti has power as a tool in function of his idea for Kosovo,

And in the end, beyond Albin Kurti, Kosovo is a state where the powers change with the free vote of the citizens, far more than the regimes in Tirana and Belgrade.

These are enough to understand the behavior of Rama karshi Kurti, to read his last message on the anniversary of NATO's entry and to explain the coordinated attacks of his propaganda militias against the government of Kosovo./LAPSI