The leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, shared on Facebook on Sunday the speech he gave to the General Council on Saturday.
It was decided there that Albin Kurti would once again be a candidate for prime minister.
In his speech, Kurti spoke about what he considers to be his achievements.
But, he has also leveled accusations against the opposition for what he says is causing the blockade. /Gazeta Express
Kurt's post:
My full speech at the 63rd meeting of the LVV General Council:
Honorable delegates of the General Council of the VETËVENDOSJE! Movement,
Honorable Chairperson Arbërie Nagavci, also Chairwoman of the VETËVENDOSJE! Parliamentary Group in the Assembly of the Republic,
Honorable President of Women for Self-Determination!, and Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, and Acting President of the Republic, I apologize if I have forgotten any other function that she has,
Honorable Vice President of the VETËVENDOSJE! Movement, Mrika Limani-Myrtaj,
Honorable Secretary General of the Movement, Alim Foliage, and Coordinator of Professional Committees, Dejona Mihali,
Honorable Uncle Avni, I believe you will soon lead the next session, this time of the eleventh legislature, and so little by little you will also be given a mandate as Speaker of the Assembly, and people will start to call you Dehari 3, perhaps in the summer of 2026,
Deputies, ministers, deputy ministers, mayors, activists, supporters of the Movement and citizens of our Republic,
Colleagues, sisters and brothers, ladies and gentlemen,
I thank you for the support and trust you have in us as a Movement and in me as Chairman and Prime Minister. I thank you for the nomination, which is of course an honor but also a great responsibility. This is a historical obligation that I have towards you, it is an obligation that we have towards our entire Albanian nation and towards our Republic. We will fulfill this duty and no one can stop us, because our eyes, ears, mind, and heart are focused on our most sublime goal, the progress of our nation.
Without your constant support and MASS, from every village and every city, from every neighborhood and every family, from within the country and from the diaspora, we would not be able to overcome the great social and historical difficulties that have presented themselves to us in our past. But with your help, with cooperation, with sincere interaction with all of you, with sacrifice and work, without ever tiring, I am sure that we will overcome every obstacle and every challenge, including these somewhat absurd challenges and difficulties that are presenting themselves to us in the present and every obstacle and challenge that perhaps will not be lacking in the future either.
We are in another campaign, on its verge formally, in another confrontation with the past substantively, which will never die without trying once again to take our breath away. But here we are, unbroken, stronger than ever, with clean hands and an open face.
Dear friends, today is May 9. In the capitals of Europe, this day is celebrated as the day of peace and unity in victory over Nazism. But for us, in Pristina, where we have gathered for the 63rd time in the General Council of the LVV, this day is not simply a date marked on the diplomatic calendars, it is a reflection of our will. There are two signs of this date: on the one hand, Europe and on the other, the fight and victory against the violent and anti-democratic policy, the policy of destruction and genocide that Nazism represented. Europe for Kosovo is not simply a station where we want to arrive, but a value that we hold within us and that we show with our political work and actions, as a party and as a democratic government. When we say Kosovo in Europe, we are not talking about any geographical displacement, but about value development; we are building Europe here, with justice, with work and with dignity. Kosovo in Europe, because now Europe in Kosovo. With the same values, we are also building our democracy, standing uncompromisingly against clientelistic forms, tribal and violent politics, against corruption, crime, against fake news, against defeatism and the degradation of the state and public services, against all these phenomena that our people hate and will never allow to return. We are exactly 29 days away from June 7. So, tomorrow, four weeks, are the new and extraordinary elections, which come less than five months after the last elections where we scored 51% of the votes. And they came ten months after the elections where we won 42% of the votes. From February to December, that is, last year, we grew by 9%. And if we grow by the same amount from December to June, then we will really be able to touch 60%. If we work as only we know how, as the situation demands, with sincerity and dedication, this too is undoubtedly possible.
Every time they block us, we are growing and they are getting an even stronger response from the people. However, I am of the opinion that as a state and as a society, as institutions of the system that must function democratically and efficiently, we did not need new elections so soon. It seems as if someone, perhaps some strategist who is in the shadows and who directs the opposition's actions from behind the scenes, is thinking that elections are necessary. Maybe for someone, but not for the people and the state.
And this is happening because we have an opposition that has realized that it cannot defeat the people, so it has chosen to block the state. They think that by blocking the election of the president, they will block the popular will. But life is not blocked by procedures, and the will of the people is alive. The will of the Albanian people of Kosovo is not a constitutional article that someone can abuse, it is a force of history that leads us unstoppably forward.
Honorable participants of the General Council of VETËVENDOSJE!,
Our national poet, Naim Frashëri, speaks of the candle that burns itself to make light. That is, to make that light that enables us to see and know each other – who truly loves our country and people, who simply wants wealth and profit for themselves. Light is what turns night into day for us. And our light, the light of SELF-DETERMINATION!, springs from the simple truth that we do not belong to power, but power belongs to the people.
We are often accused of being “theoretical”. But the state’s figures are the most stubborn poetry of our reality. Here is such a figure: when we came to power, there were ten private customs terminals. Today, all customs terminals are state-owned. Well, this figure, so factual, so simple and understandable, explains why they are so transparent and do not accept anything else but only block. They used to get money from private terminals, but today the money goes to those who work, and certainly not to those who steal.
Today we have an economy that produces value. From 7 billion euros that was the Gross Domestic Product when we took office, we are now touching 12 billion. This is not growth on paper, it is growth on the bread tables, it is growth in well-being and opportunities, it is growth in investments and profits. Even before us, someone spoke of growth, but it was small growth and for a few people; we made growth for everyone, an average of 6% of the Gross Domestic Product every year, and this year we will also have about 4%, like last year. Our figures are therefore the face of Kosovo's new dignity for Kosovo.
We have also increased the budget by 2/3. From 2.4 billion we found it to 4 billion euros. Those who once stole everything, from asphalt to schools, today wonder how work can be done without stealing. The secret is simple and even public. It is enough to work for the heart and not for the pocket, to plan with the brain and not with the stomach.
We have increased the minimum wage from 130, respectively 170 euros, as we had found, to 425 euros as it currently is and 500 euros as it will be from July 1st this year. Minimum wage 500 euros, non-taxable! Whoever loves the people, increases their income; whoever wants power for themselves, steals it.
And, not only will the minimum wage be 500 euros tax-free for workers, but also for businesses, especially small ones that want to grow, this is an extraordinary help because the first 6 thousand euros will be tax-free.
We have employed over 80 thousand new citizens in the last five years. We have increased employment from 350 thousand to 430 thousand employed citizens. Unemployment has fallen from over 25% to less than 11%. So five years ago, more often than every fourth person was unemployed, and now that we are talking about it, even less often than every ninth person is unemployed. Five years ago, you could hardly find a family without someone unemployed, while now even two families are not enough to find someone unemployed.
Through the SUPERPUNA program, over 23 thousand young people found jobs, with the minimum wage guaranteed for six months by the state. We have doubled exports and foreign direct investments – investors come where there is hope, and Kosovo is the place of hope and profit. In recent weeks, American and European newspapers have been writing about Kosovo's successes in youth employment, especially in the information and communication technology sector. So, where there was previously doubt, we have sown trust and are reaping development!
For the first time in the history of Kosovo, we have provided universal benefits to over 400 children and about 80 mothers. Recently, child benefits were increased, and we did not take tax money to give to those in power as was done in the past, but distributed it to the children and mothers of the entire people of Kosovo, because these children are the future, as are their families, who are the present of our economy and development.
We increased pensions for all categories, without distinction. And in four years, six out of 13 pensions have been received by our beloved elderly.
We increased salaries in the public sector three times during our mandate. We made education free at all levels – bachelor's and master's – because the bright minds of our youth are the Republic's greatest asset. Investing in knowledge is the most strategic investment, and we did this without sparing.
In healthcare, we found the budget for essential medicines at 24 million euros and tripled it; now we have over 100 million euros. From “clinic after clinic” we moved to “hospital after hospital” in renovation, somewhere reconstruction, but still modernization everywhere. We will build specialist polyclinics in Drenas, Sharr, Viti, Rahovec and Leposaviq, and what we have built in Podujeva is an example of what the new polyclinic at the service of citizens will look like in these municipalities that I mentioned. And so will other dental polyclinics across the country. Because health is not a privilege, but a fundamental right and we are turning it into a daily reality of the living experience of our citizens!
In agriculture, 120 thousand farmers have received over 300 million euros in grants and subsidies, and the arable area has increased by 50%: about 80 thousand hectares have been worked several times, now there are about 120 thousand hectares. Our farmer now sees the land not as a burden, but as an opportunity. We have subsidized the excise tax on oil and are creating an agricultural insurance scheme against natural disasters, because a strong village is the foundation of the state and the progress of the nation. Because we have believed in a principle unknown to the opposition in Kosovo: wealth flows from non-stealing. So in order for the state to become rich, citizens must not be robbed, and this is precisely what we have done with so much success, and we will continue to do for many years to come.
In terms of security, Kosovo is no longer as vulnerable as it once was. We tripled the army budget, purchases of weapons and ammunition increased a hundredfold. We doubled the number of soldiers with 2271 new recruits for the Kosovo Security Force, we raised the recruitment age from 23 to 25 years old and removed the ceiling of 5 members. In the next mandate, we will allocate over 1 billion euros for the Kosovo Security Force. You know that gangs used to threaten us - today law and order are in the safe hands of our police and army.
In the north of our Republic, law and order are not rare guests, but they are the master of the house. There are no more so-called “Civil Protection” and “Northern Brigade”, there is the Kosovo Police. They can do as they are posting from Kraljevo, Serbia, and it is truly unfortunate that our northern neighbor protects, shelters and finances these terrorists, among whom stands out Milan Radoićić, the main criminal of the terrorist attack in Banjska. However, with or without the protection of Serbia, they have been arrested and eliminated in Kosovo. In Banjska, the Kosovo Police seized 165 weapons and weapon systems from the terrorists, as well as 63.083 ammunition, including grenades, mines, explosives and shells. In addition to these, in the years 2021-2026, in the north of Kosovo, our Police have seized 611 other weapons and 17.765 ammunition. So, if you add these up, it turns out that the captured arsenals were sufficient for many hundreds of terrorists who would have had ample weapons and ammunition to cause unrest and destabilization in Kosovo. We can say, based on these figures, that during our good governance, the institutions of public order in our country have prevented a new war, which was planned and aimed by those who hate the strengthening of Kosovo, those who openly engage by any means against stability, security and peace in Kosovo, against the Government of Kosovo, against the voters of Kosovo, who are constantly showing that they want the governance of VETËVENDOSJE!
In the north of the country, which constitutes nearly one-sixth of the territory, there are no more barricades and parallel structures, no more bandits, tyrants and smugglers, no more customs points that burn, but there are borders that are protected and guarded, there is public order and peace. Well, state sovereignty is not measured by television statements in Pristina, but by the safety of citizens in Leposavic, Zubin Potok, Zvecan, Mitrovica. We have extended the rule of law, we have extended our state to the entire territory of the Republic, because we loved the Republic more than our comfort. In the north, where before 2021 there was no police station, today we have nine stations around the border that guarantee the sovereignty of the Republic in every corner of the territory. Our hero, Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku, gave his life for state sovereignty, territorial integrity. Glory to Afrim Bunjaku! And, glory to every soldier and police officer who guards our territory and people!
Dear activists, the opposition is seeking power by blocking progress. This is like seeking to become the captain of a ship by drilling the bottom of it. They refused to vote for the Speaker of Parliament, Albulena Haxhiu, in 2025. They refused to vote for Glauk Konjufca, the second most voted person in the history of Kosovo. Of course, they always refuse me, they don't want to look me in the eye and go on their televisions to say how I wanted to be eliminated by any means. They refused to vote, as you know, even for 1.1 billion euros of international agreements and led the country to those past elections. They refused the budget. They refused to increase pensions. Now they are losing tens of millions of support from the international community, in addition to the over 10 million for the organization of these elections. The question arises: Why? My strong conviction is that their positions come from fear. Their fear of our victory is greater than their love for the country. They have greater fear and hatred of us than patriotism for the Republic of Kosovo. Just because we did not accept the bargains of the oligarchs, the division of customs terminals and ambassadorial posts, they all united against us – PDK, LDK, AAK and the Serbian List – not to build the state, but to return it to a private source of enrichment. Faced with this front of darkness, we, with the light of Naim, or even with the light of Socrates, say to the people: There is no turning back, there is only moving forward!
You have heard them countless times saying: “Kurti is isolating Kosovo”. I answer them: Kosovo has never been more present and more welcome in the chancelleries of the world than now. Represented with dignity at higher levels than ever before, while we are on track even with non-recognizing countries for new recognitions, but also for European and Euro-Atlantic integrations. If you really want to find some isolation, well, yes, we are isolated from corruption. We are isolated from night bargains, yes. We are isolated from organized crime, yes. But we are open to values. We are open to dignity. We are open to work and cooperation, and we also asked the opposition for cooperation for the president, but they did not offer any name. Or, even when they talked about a name, they did not offer any signature. Or, when they showed him some signatures, they were not signatures for any name. They responded to our opening with a blockade and only with a blockade. That's why they are called the opposition bloc.
In other words, honorable delegates of the General Council of the Vetëvendosje Movement, the opposition is blocking because we already have an opposition bloc. Blocking is in their nature. You see how they support, help each other, and how quickly and easily they turn against VETËVENDOSJE! and our government. In 2025, they said: we do not want Albulena! A super-creative ruling came from the Constitutional Court that said that Albulena has the right to be nominated three times. Instead of Albulena, we brought in the leader of the Guxo Party, who is also a partner in our coalition, Donika Gërvalla. They said: we do not want Donika. After Donika, the Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati. They said: we do not want the minister, not even the Minister of Finance Hekuran Murati. After Hekuran Murat came the former Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, now the Chair of our Parliamentary Group, Arbërie Nagavci. They said: we don't want Arbërie Nagavci either. In the end, they voted for Arbërie's proposal, which they didn't want, Dimal Basha, as you know. And, when it came to the Government, they said Albin is not being considered. But where is Glauk Konjufca, a candidate for prime minister? They said: we don't want Glauk either! And, we went to the elections.
This year they did not want any consensual proposal for president of the republic. And what did we do, less than 30 hours before midnight between March 5 and 6, we proposed Glauk Konjufca, with over 318 thousand votes. If we do not have anyone consensual, then we are presenting the one who has the most popular support, because after all, this is the meaning of democracy, this is the meaning of electoral elections. And, Glauk's counter-candidate, less than 3 hours before midnight between March 5 and 6, was our honorable deputy, Dr. Fatmire Mulhaxha-Kollçaku. They said: we do not want any of these.
By presidential decree, they told all the deputies to go home, when it had only been two and a half months since the elections were held. We gained an additional time of about five weeks and tried with everything we know and can. We told the Democratic League of Kosovo to come to co-government: the deputy prime minister and four ministers, which is double what the Guxo Party has. They said no. Then we also told the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Democratic Party of Kosovo, since you are very worried that we are taking the three high state positions, let's make a change in the presidency of the Assembly, where you take the president of the Assembly, while our president becomes the vice president and your vice president becomes the president, or even let the party president become the president, it's their issue. First, the LDK said no. PDK, no either. And, when that didn't work either, we said that Glauku and Fatmirja should withdraw, if you bring us three names, because PDK with 22 MPs and LDK with 15 MPs must come together to propose a single name, and we told you that when you come together you can only propose one name, you propose three names and we guarantee that one of them will be elected. And do you know how we guarantee it?! We told you that we guarantee it because first we give them the signatures so that they qualify for the application and in the end we guarantee that one of them will be elected! No response from them. And when they do give a response: blocking, rejection. Three PDK and LDK candidates, who only have 37 signatures at best, were able to propose them to us, while they need 90 signatures. But, those with 37 candidates, at best, and we as a majority with 66 candidates would reach over 100 signatures, so we would have 90 for sure! Imagine the session of the Assembly of the Republic where a vote must be held for one of the three candidates that all three proposed by the opposition, which, otherwise when it comes together, here we are also introducing the other subject AAK, PDK, LDK, AAK together have 43 deputies, we have 57! If we put them all together, they do not make as many as us. If we put them all together, we would have to add a third of them to make as many as us. And we said to you, propose three candidates, we will choose one, they said: no!
The Democratic Party of Kosovo is part of the family of European liberal parties “Renew Europe”, “Renew Europe”, that is the name of the family of liberal parties in Europe, of which the PDK is a part. The Democratic League of Kosovo is part of the European family of right-wing parties called “European People’s Parties”. Let both the PDK and the LDK go and ask their European ideological families, what do they think about the offer of the Prime Minister and President Kurti from the VETËVENDOSJE! Movement for co-government and power sharing in a democratic state?
But they dare not do this, because their rejection of our proposals is absurd. With the small size to which they have fallen, not accepting these generous offers of ours, shows that the situation is irrational, but we are the winning and rational subject, while the blockade is a blockade of losers and irrational.
Honorable delegates, activists, they are blocking but we will continue. The Republic of Kosovo has an acting President, Albulena Haxhiu. There is a Prime Minister in office, me. There is a Government in office, all these ministers and deputy ministers. What the Republic of Kosovo does not have is the Parliament. The opposition has a stage, the parliament, because it is not in the Government, it has deprived itself of its stage. Therefore, our state with its good and auspicious works will continue. This blockage is not simply a blockage towards us – first of all, it is a blockage they make to themselves. And after the elections we will again seek cooperation for a non-partisan president, for a new president outside the current political scene, with integrity and competence, with professional and national values and merits. And they know that this offer of ours is an expression of our openness, which is typical of a democratic subject. But what they perhaps do not know and it is good to understand: the people also know the truth. It is in vain that they try to cover up the truth with fabrications, with sophisms, with false narratives that they repeat in their private media. A well-known thinker said that “The truth does not need the majority to remain true, but the majority needs the truth to remain free”. And in Kosovo the majority knows the truth very well and it is free. And from this freedom the people, the majority of voters, who know the truth have June 7. This truth will once again turn into a vote. Once again VETËVENDOSJE! will come out first, once again VETËVENDOSJE! will move forward, bigger than the second and third together. Once again we will call on the opposition to become constructive for our state and people. They want to tire us out, but we cannot tire ourselves out, because our mission is comparatively more important than any of their games.
The next mandate is not just a continuation, it is an acceleration.
1. Employment: We will not stop until we reach 500 thousand employees. This means that every family in Kosovo will have at least two members employed with dignified salaries.
2. Investments: 1 billion euros per year in capital expenditures. We will complete the highways that remained hostage to old corruption and orchestrated expropriations, we will build hospitals that heal and schools that educate for the 21st century.
3. 1 billion euros of investments for our army as well.
4. 1 billion euros will also be distributed to our manufacturers for new production technology and machinery.
5. Diaspora: You know, our largest department is abroad. Diaspora is not Kosovo's ATM, it is its heart. In the new mandate, we will integrate their capital and knowledge directly into our economic engine.
6. In justice: Vetting will be carried out. The Bureau for the Confiscation of Illegal and Unjustified Assets will be operationalized. We will not allow the courts to be a haven for crime, but must become a temple of justice.
We will complete the Pristina-Durres railway, build the Pristina-Gjilan highway, the Dukagjin road, 5 new dams for water and energy. We will turn Brezovica into a jewel of winter tourism with half a billion euros of investment. We will introduce Kosovo's digital currency, build the ICT Tower and offer "All Around" public transport for 10 euros per month for an integrated ticket.
We are not waiting for the future, we are building it with strong foundations and clean hands!
The Mediterranean Games 2030, the Opera and Ballet Theater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the ammunition factory and the “Made in Kosovo” drones – these are not dreams, but concrete projects that have already begun. We are not ambitious for ourselves because we are young; we are young because we are ambitious for the state!
Dear activists,
In the coming weeks, you will be our voice. You will be the soul of the Movement. Remember: we do not need bought votes, because we have minds and hearts set on the Albanian national issue and the Democratic Republic of Kosovo. We must work hard, but my message to every activist is what we always say: not just a lot of work, but work for many. Share the task. Engage your neighbor, your friend, your family member. The more people involved, the easier, the bigger, the deeper and the purer the victory.
The threshold of others is 5%. Our threshold last year was 50% and this time it is getting even higher, 60%. Our beloved Kosovo is too small to be divided and sold, but it is too big to be strengthened and grown. On June 7, we are not just voting for a party. We are voting to decide whether we want to go back into the darkness of extortion, or move forward into the light of development.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else is much more important to us than fear. And for us, the Republic, democracy, sovereignty, dignity, independence, well-being and progress are more important than anything. This gives us courage beyond all timidity, beyond all fear. This makes us not stop.
On June 7, let's come together. For our parents who deserve to grow old with dignity. For our youth who deserve a future in their homeland. For our Kosovo, which deserves to be free, independent and developed. Our governance is democratic, Kosovo will also have a president of unity in accordance with our spirit, which was recently expressed in the Assembly of the Republic, namely in the last session of the tenth legislature, when Glauk Konjufca and Fatmire Mulhaxha-Kolçaku voluntarily withdrew, and we proposed the leader of civil society, Dr. Feride Rushiti for president of the republic, but again as we have always been accustomed to: we propose, they reject! But on June 7, this will happen in a different way, we who propose win, those who reject are finished.
Because we know what we want: a free people, a strong state, a victorious Kosovo! And we will succeed. Because when SELF-SECURITY! raises its voice, the old blockades tremble until they collapse. When the people unite, there is no dam that can stop it.
And on June 7, the victory will not be mine, but of every mother who receives the allowance, of every worker who sees their salary increase, of every student who studies for free, of every soldier who guards the border, of every farmer who cultivates the land, of every policeman who guarantees security, of every expatriate who will return and feel proud.
Together, without stopping, with heart and mind, for a profound victory
We will not give up! For a Kosovo for all, leaving no one behind!
With work and honor, with knowledge and courage. Towards victory! Self-determination!
Thank you very much for your attention, participation and massive and continuous support!
t7 live
