Albanian PM: Kosovo Is Vucic’s Nightmare

Edi Rama, Belgrade, Nov. 4 2021(BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC/DS)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said that Kosovo is “a nightmare” for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, which leads him to sometimes say “things that do not make sense,” such as the allegation that Albania, Croatia and Kosovo have formed an alliance” with the aim to threaten Serbia.

In an interview with Turkish newspaper Turkiye Today, published on March 12, Rama said that Vucic’s allegations were unfounded, describing them as “fear deriving from Serbia’s inability to accept the reality,” Pristina’s daily Koha has reported. “President Vucic is a person with broad knowledge, great intuition, who can predict many things, but has his nightmare. And that is Kosovo. That's it, period. When that nightmare prevails over his emotions, he can say things that, frankly speaking, do not make sense,” Rama said. 

The Albanian president also dismissed Vucic’s allegation from October, that Turkey cherished Neo-Ottoman ambitions in the Balkans, noting that, for example, the restoration of a small flood-damaged mosque in Albania was running late, which was carried out by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA). “What kind of Neo-Ottomanism? I am sure the Serbian president can see that Turkey has invested more in Serbia than in Albania and Kosovo combined,” Rama said commenting on Vucic’s statement from October that Turkey “is dreaming of the Ottoman Empire.”

The comment was made by Vucic in the wake of delivery of skydagger drones to Kosovo by Turkey. Later, he also accused Ankara and the US of arming Kosovo, portraying it as “as an imminent threat to Serbia and its territorial integrity.” Nevertheless, Rama said that Vucic was still “a leader one could talk to and build collaboration based on mutual goals,” despite disagreements.