Vigan Qorrolli, a deputy from the Vetëvendosje Movement, has sharply responded to the views expressed by publicist and writer Ben Blushi about Kosovo, its identity and its ties with Albania.
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In a Facebook post, Qorrolli rejected the claim that Kosovo is distancing itself from Albania and that unification with it represents “the only solution” for its future.
According to him, Kosovo has its own history, memory, institutions and experience, while Kosovar society continues to independently define its identity and orientation.
Qorrolli also published his full response to Blushi:
“Blushi and Kosovo, which refuses to let him define it!
In the latest debate about Kosovo, Ben Blushi has put forward a thesis that should be seriously examined because of the conclusions to which it leads. According to him, Kosovo is moving away from Albania, a trend that can be observed both in politics and in the way its identity is expressed. From this situation, he concludes that a ‘national despair’ is taking shape and that Kosovo’s very existence is ultimately at risk. For this reason, he presents unification with Albania as ‘the only solution’.
But Kosovo has one characteristic that undermines the predictions of those who speak on its behalf: it is an existing reality.
It has its own history, memory, citizens, institutions, wounds, mistakes and conflicts. Above all, it has a society that, regardless of positive or negative developments, continues to decide for itself how it sees and defines itself.
Blushi’s approach to Kosovo resembles the outlook of a tired elitist who, having lost touch with the voice of the people, claims to speak on their behalf as well. From an intellectual perspective that has lost contact with the neighborhood, the street, the family and ordinary citizens, he declares that Kosovo is losing its identity, Albanian identity, hope and, ultimately, its very existence.
The Dardan Albanian of Kosovo does not need to be told that he is Albanian. He knew this even at a time when Albanian identity did not serve as decoration in television studios, as you have known it to, but required sacrifices and came at a price. He did not learn Dardania, Kosovo, Albania or his own history from someone else’s writings, but from his family, home, memory and life experience.
Who gave you, Ben, the right to decide when a Kosovar remains Albanian and when, according to your journalistic yardstick, he crosses over into ‘anti-Albania’?
Who authorized you to hold the keys to the safe where, according to you, the Albanian identity of Kosovars is kept? Who gave you the authority to determine when an Albanian is ‘slightly Albanian’ or ‘Albanian enough’?
Kosovo can have its own state, a distinct political experience and a clearly differentiated social consciousness without losing its Albanian identity. Just like a person who has a first name, a surname and a family history, but does not cease to be themselves.
Fortunately, Kosovo is older than the theories constructed about it and more persistent than the conclusions of those who claim to predict it.
Blushi is making a grave, paradoxical mistake with dangerous political consequences because he is trying to explain a people through its opposition to Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti. He takes a political clash with an individual and uses it as the basis for judging the identity, national consciousness and orientation of an entire society.
Weak, Ben, just as always happens with these shortcomings whenever you deal with Kosovo!”
