FRANCE 24 spoke to Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti, as Kosovo celebrates 15 years of independence. Kurti is due to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels on February 27 and said he was "very optimistic" that an agreement leading to full normalisation between the two countries could happen "this year". He regretted that relations between Kosovo and Serbia "are not normal" and claimed Belgrade isolated itself by "not delinking (...) from the Kremlin".
Speaking to FRANCE 24 during the annual Munich Security Conference, Kosovo's PM said Serbia's Vucic is "to a large extent, playing into Putin's hands". Kurti believes the Serbian leader "sometimes does a gesture which shows that maybe he is not fully aligned with Putin because he wants to get EU funds and US tolerance", since the Serbian economy, although largely dependent on Russian oil and gas, is also "linked to the West".
Turning to the war in Ukraine, Kurti said the West should provide additional help to Ukrainian forces. He added that he feared attacks by Wagner Group mercenaries against Kosovo were "probable". His country remains "vigilant", but "not afraid", he concluded.
