Kosovo’s parliament has approved a new government led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti after more than a year of political deadlock amid ongoing tensions with Serbia.
Lawmakers in the 120-member assembly backed Kurti’s cabinet in a 66-49 vote on Wednesday, hours after parliament convened for the first time since his Vetevendosje party won a snap election in December.
Before the vote, Kurti set out his legislative agenda, citing the economy and increased investment in defence as key areas, with plans to invest one billion euros ($1.18bn) for military purposes, including the production of combat drones.
“During these years, as we have all witnessed, we have faced constant attacks and threats from Serbia,” said Kurti of tense relations with Kosovo’s northern neighbour, which has never recognised its independence since it was declared in 2008 after a war in the late 1990s.
However, the prime minister, a former political prisoner, promised to pursue “normalisation of relations” with Belgrade aimed at “a bilateral external relationship and not interference or meddling in internal affairs”.
Tensions remain high in Kosovo’s north, where most of the ethnic Serb minority live, but normalisation of relations is a key requirement for both countries’ stated ambitions to join the European Union.
Credit: aljazeera.com
