Kurti: The Balkans are not immune to the effects of the situation in Ukraine

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti in an interview with Sky News, said that the Balkans are not immune from the war situation in Ukraine.

He says that Serbia is also part of the Balkans, which has not imposed sanctions on Russia.

“The Balkans are not immune from the effects of the situation in Ukraine, because in the Balkans we have a country that has not imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation, which did not join the EU to condemn the Russian occupation, and that is Serbia, our first neighbor “, said Kurti.

Kurti says that Serbia continues to refuse recognition of Kosovo, while maintains strong ties with Russia.

“We have a very long border with Serbia. Serbia is our northern neighbor that does not recognize Kosovo like Albania, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia. They have very strong ties and these are historical, cultural ties on the one hand and military and economic ties”, said Kurti.

He said that Serbia has fighter jets donated by Russia and Belarus.

“Serbia has 6 MiG-19s and fighter jets, eight of them donations from Belarus and six from the Russian Federation. In the Serbian parliament, 250 deputies, 150 of them are members of the Russian-Serbian friendship group, it is the largest friendship group”, said Kurti.

Meanwhile, Kurti once again expressed the desire for Kosovo to join the EU and NATO after the last developments.

“We remain determined and vigilant and we are not afraid, we want jo join the EU and NATO, we have NATO in Kosovo but soon aswe join NATO we will have greater stability in the region”.