Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has reacted for the first time to allegations that the Vetëvendosje Movement is behind the civic protests in Albania, denying any involvement of the political force he leads in organizing or inciting them.
During the 64th meeting of the General Council of Vetëvendosje, Kurti expressed that he had followed with surprise the attempts to attribute the protests in Tirana to his party.
"I have seen with surprise various voices that have tried to blame Vetëvendosje for these protests taking place in the Republic of Albania. But, dear delegates of the General Council and other activists and members, today we are a governing force and we are not a protest force," Kurti declared.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo recalled that Vetëvendosje has a long history of protests, but emphasized that it has never acted in secret and has never used others to achieve its political goals.
"Even when we were a protest force, we have led the protests ourselves and have never remained anonymous. We have never considered the tactic of throwing stones and hiding our hands worthy and we have stayed away from instrumentalization. We have not accepted being instrumentalized by anyone else, but we have not instrumentalized others either," he said.
Kurti also emphasized that relations between Kosovo and Albania cannot be seen as a relationship of political or institutional rivalry.
"We are at the head of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, and Kosovo is not and will never be a rival of its sister. We rejoice in Albania's advances towards the European Union or in the achievements of the economy and tourism in Albania," declared the Kosovo Prime Minister.
However, Kurti did not shy away from concerns about developments in Albania. He spoke about the need for a democracy that is not subject to oligarchy and demanded that, beyond identifying those responsible for the violence during the protests, the causes that led to the clashes be understood.
