Former military officer Hafir Hoxha has expressed the view that the lack of an invitation for Kosovo to the NATO summit should not be seen as the failure of any government, but as a consequence of new geopolitical developments that are shaping the alliance’s agenda.
According to Hoxha, the focus of NATO and the United States has shifted to the war in Ukraine, confrontations with Russia, crises in the Middle East and the challenges coming from China. He believes that, in this situation, the US is increasingly seeking for European countries to shoulder a greater burden for the defense of the continent.
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He underlines that Kosovo should continue working to strengthen its institutions, economy and defense capacities, as well as to build a stronger partnership with the US and European allies. At the same time, he stresses that pro-Americanism is not measured by symbols or rhetoric, but by the ability to build a state that takes on more responsibility and leaves less burden to American allies.
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Why was Kosovo not invited to the NATO summit?
Recently, many accusations have been heard in Kosovo against the Government of Kosovo, with the claim that the lack of an invitation to the NATO summit constitutes a diplomatic failure. But, according to him, this issue should be treated within a much broader geopolitical framework.
He says that today the United States of America faces much bigger challenges than the issue of Kosovo. The war in Ukraine, tensions with Russia, the crisis in the Middle East and the strategic rivalry with China, according to him, require extraordinary political, diplomatic, military and economic engagement.
In these circumstances, he considers it natural for NATO and the US to prioritize strengthening the alliance’s defense and increasing the military capacities of European countries. According to him, the US has long been asking European states to take more responsibility for the continent’s security and to increase defense investment, so that America does not carry the main burden in every international crisis.
From this perspective, Hoxha believes that the issue of Kosovo was not at the center of this summit’s strategic agenda. He adds that Kosovo, unfortunately, still does not have the political, military or geopolitical weight to influence NATO’s strategic decisions at the global level. For this reason, the absence of an invitation should not automatically be interpreted as a consequence of the failure of one government, but also as a result of the alliance’s new priorities in an increasingly unstable world.
Nevertheless, he stresses that this does not mean Kosovo should remain passive. On the contrary, the country must continue to strengthen its institutions, economy, defense capacities and partnership with the US and European allies, so that in the future it can have a more important role in the Euro-Atlantic security architecture.
Hoxha also notes that there are other factors mentioned by analysts, such as the state of the dialogue with Serbia, Kosovo’s relations with some allies and the fact that certain summits are held with limited participation formats. Therefore, according to him, it would be difficult to say that the lack of an invitation is linked to only one single reason.
The US now wants to notify the EU that they should be ready to cover the gaps that would be created in the event of a reduction of American military forces in the EU; therefore, this was precisely my personal concern when I hear politicians in Kosovo competing among themselves over who is more pro-American by showing who has the biggest American flag in the office, who expresses greater romantic love for America, whereas I say that the most pro-American are those who leave the least work and responsibility to Americans to take care of our country, those who act and work and create opportunities to help Americans, and not be dependent on them for everything and become their concern.
