Of all the economic myths that have been repeated in the Balkans over the past decades, perhaps the most damaging has been this one: that the worker's wage is an obstacle to development. That the less a job is paid, the more "competitive" the economy becomes. This model has failed. And, the countries that have this model have failed to create welfare, to stop emigration, to create a strong domestic market. And above all, they have failed because they have treated the worker as an expense, not as the foundation of the economy. In Kosovo, it is increasingly a thing of the past.
Therefore, the commitment of the VETËVENDOSJE! Movement, with number 116 and with Prime Minister Albin Kurti at the top of the list, to begin a dialogue with the private sector on the implementation of the 13th salary and then gradually creating conditions for the 14th salary, is not just an electoral promise. It is a proposal for changing Kosovo's economic model. Because modern economies do not develop by weakening the purchasing power of the majority. They develop by strengthening it.
In Kosovo, household consumption accounts for over three-quarters of our economy. This means that any increase in income for working families does not remain frozen in bank accounts or tax havens. It is immediately returned to economic circulation, in stores, in local production, in services, in education, in healthcare, and in everyday life.
The worker does not keep the economy alive only with his work. He also keeps it alive with his consumption. This is why the 13th salary should not be seen as a luxury or a burden. It should be seen as a mechanism for economic and social stability. A family that has financial security consumes more, plans more and lives with less anxiety. A parent who knows that he can afford seasonal expenses, vacations or children's books, becomes part of a healthier and more sustainable economy.
In fact, serious businesses have a direct interest in raising wages. A better-paid worker is more productive, more motivated, and more loyal to the workplace. A market with more purchasing power creates more consumers and more economic turnover. The economy does not weaken when wages increase. The economy weakens when the majority cannot afford to consume.
For years, citizens have been asked to sacrifice in the name of “the market.” But the market is not an abstraction. The market is people. And when people are not secure, the economy is not stable either.
This is why the debate over the 13th salary is essentially a debate about the direction our country should take. Do we want to return to an economy of low wages, weak consumption, and constant emigration? Or do we want to continue the work of building a republic where work is rewarded, where welfare circulates, and where development is measured by the lives of the majority?
The VETËVENDOSJE! movement has clearly chosen its side. The side of work. The side of the family. The side of the economy that produces well-being, not just profit for the few. Because the salary is not just a cost in a financial excel. The salary is dignity. It is security. It is social stability. And in the end, it is the very engine of national development.
With the number 116, citizens are not just voting for another government. They are voting for a different idea of the economy: a Kosovo where development is not measured only by increasing statistics, but by increasing people's lives.
t7 live
