Kosovo President Thaci: I was not involved in overthrowing the Kurti Government

Gazeta Express

01/04/2020 22:27

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci denies allegations of being involved in ousting Albin Kurti’s government. “I was not in the Parliament. It is a constitutional and legal right used by lawmakers of Kosovo. Now MPs are mentioning my name (as being involved) but it is their matter (what they say),” said Thaci in an interview for Pressing show on T7, hosted by Berat Buzhala and Leonard Kerquki.

Thaci said the no-confidence motion in the Kurti’s government had nothing to do with his proposal to declare a state of emergency. ”The day before I proposed for the National Security Council to hold a meeting, I called Prime Minister Kurti on the phone. Given the situation on the ground and recommendations of the relevant institutions I found it necessary to have a conversation with the Prime Minister.  ‘That conversation took place at 6pm. He rejected (the proposal for declaration of the state of emergency). The following day I had a conversation with other leaders, and they all were in favor of declaring a state of emergency. I have been member of the Council for two terms. I invited the prime minister to a meeting, and he agreed. The meeting took place at 7 pm. There were one or two people that did not belong there. A constructive debate took place, and everyone gave their opinion. I made it clear that I would propose declaring a state of emergency. I do not want to create panic, but we had the opportunity to introduce more rigorous measures in order to have fewer (coronavirus) victims.” 

“There could have been much less (coronavirus) cases if flights from abroad were suspended in time,” he said. When asked why he withdrew from the plan to declare the state of emergency, Thaci said that he took such a decision “because of new circumstances after clashes between the ruling coalition partners and development within the government.” He also said that there were efforts to give “an unstable political connotation” to his proposal. “I still think that the state of emergency should be declared,” he said. “We are under curfew based on an anti-constitutional decision. Prime Minister Albin Kurti has severely violated the Constitution.”

Thaci also commented on the meeting that he had today with prime minister Kurti. “’The meeting with Kurti is of a procedural and legal nature, a meeting with the leader of the first party (that won election), about the possibility for creation of the new government. I got his opinion. There are two possibilities: either go to the polls, or the other one for me as president of state have the obligation to avoid elections in these circumstances because of the pandemic to create a new government. The first political party is the first to have this opportunity, and then we will see.”

Kurti said that at a meeting with Kurti he proposed a referendum on closing the dialogue with Serbia. “He (Kurti) took it with skepticism, and I saw that he was not concentrated at all, “Thaci said. As for the allegations of exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia, Thaci said, “I have never talked about exchange of territories; I have always said ‘no autonomy, no partition of Kosovo, no exchange of territories.’”

Talking on Kosovo’s relations with the European Union, Thaci said that he would not meet Miroslav Lajcak, who recently was assigned as the EU’s special representative for dialogue, if he comes to Pristina with the prejudice that Kosovo is still administered by Resolution 1244 and is not an independent state. “Lajcak comes from a country that has not recognized Kosovo [Slovakia],” he said. “His assignment to resolve the Kosovo-Serb problem is an insult. I do not want to go into experiments and say ‘although Borrell and Lajcak do not know Kosovo, maybe Spain and Slovakia will recognize it. If Lajcak comes as Borrell’s envoy, and if he comes with a status neutral (stance) I will not meet him without recognizing Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state.” He also said that the EU is to be blamed for not granting Kosovo visa liberalisation. “Kosovo has met all visa liberalisation criteria and has been punished because of lack of unity among EU leaders. This is an argument that cannot be rejected,” the president said. /GazetaExpress/