Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, announced that the 2026 International Balkan Youth Summit for Peace, organized by Youth and Students for Peace Balkan and the Universal Peace Federation, has begun in Mitrovica. Young people from more than 50 countries are taking part in the event.
He said that the summit’s opening took place on the same day as the 29th anniversary of the 1 October 1997 student protest, highlighting Kosovo’s journey over the past three decades.
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According to Kurti, the state of Kosovo was built on the values of freedom and equality for all citizens, regardless of their affiliation.
During his speech, the prime minister stressed that democracies today are facing new challenges, particularly disinformation, which makes it more difficult to distinguish between truth and lies. For this reason, he urged young people not to give up seeking the truth and to have the courage to express it publicly.
Kurti also spoke about the development of artificial intelligence, saying that it would bring significant benefits but could not replace misunderstandings, forgiveness and human efforts to achieve understanding. According to him, these elements are precisely what build genuine relationships and pave the way to peace.
He also recalled the role of the bridges over the Ibër River in Mitrovica, which for many years, although they appeared to be bridges, in practice functioned as walls. Today, as Kurti put it, they serve to bring people closer together and connect them.
Kurti said that, from the 1997 protests to the present day, Kosovo has gone through important stages, from liberation to independence and then to the building of a functioning democracy, accompanied by sustained economic growth.
He described Kosovo as the most democratic state in the region and beyond, based on the belief that all people are free and equal, regardless of where they grew up or which community they belong to.
