According to Zhulali, the current situation is not being handled with due prudence.
“I don’t think that in Kosovo now there is a need or a place for improvised or immediate decisions or the way we are treating it here as part of the political agreements of the day. It should be seen to learn from the mistakes that were made, that we came to a decision because some mistakes were made. There was no clear strategy, neither from the government of Kosovo, nor from the political parties in Kosovo, for what would come and what would be the decision of the court. There was no coordination with Albania, what Albania could help with because Albania also has a specific voice and weight that can help in this aspect. And we came to where we are“, she said.
She has warned that repeating the same scenario will lead to an equally bad decision. Zhulali has also criticized the idea that a law approved in the Parliament of Kosovo can automatically undo the Special Court.
“Nurturing an illusion that with a law passed by the Parliament of Kosovo, the court is automatically abolished, I think it is unfair and does harm as well. It also harms people’s emotions, because this is definitely an issue that emotionally affects citizens in Kosovo and Albania. I think that this decision has somehow united the Albanian nation in this strong emotion and the revolt against the decision, but it is not the emotion that undoes the court and the court’s decision. There is a need for other steps, for other decisions to be made“, she said.
Zhulali emphasized that this issue should not be mixed with the agreement for the president.
“I don’t like to see this mixed up, to be with the agreement for the president, because this is something very big that has consequences for all of Kosovo. Here, each actor must actually show how responsible he is in relation to the country, the nation, and ultimately history. Everyone has their own weight and responsibility. And they are not all the same. Undoubtedly, Albin Kurti is the prime minister today, he has different responsibilities than he had when he was in the opposition and said ‘don’t vote for the court’. But today he is prime minister and now he understands the change in attitude that is maintained when you are in government, because today you are the main partner even with foreigners, with internationals, with partners, without whom life in Kosovo becomes very difficult for Kosovo and its futurej”, underlined Zhulali.
She estimated that this is an important lesson to understand the new international dynamics.
“We live in a world where things pass very quickly. If anyone thought that Kosovo’s independence was written in stone and everything ended there, history showed us that no, things can change. But also, the people who govern today the various European countries or who are in America have changed, there is no longer the same memory as it used to be, like 5 years ago or 10 years ago. The lack of that memory, as well as a very strong connection, makes things difficult for Kosovo. Likewise, today in international relations, human rights are no longer the main word, this has changed a long time ago. The question of immediate interests, the balance of power, these are the things that most affect how decisions are made on big issues.“, declared Zhulali.
Zhulali also pointed out the difficult geopolitical context.
“We are in a very difficult moment geopolitically, because a crisis in Kosovo not only puts Kosovo at a disadvantage, but what happened to us, for example, this time? We had a very strong contrast with what was happening in Serbia, when we had a minister of the Serbian government who provoked the whole region with declarations of ethnic cleansing, which, apart from some declarations here and there, did not receive any, so to speak, very strong blows as we would like and as we rightly expect from the international factor“, she said further.
