Kurti: Serbs’ Withdrawal from Institutions Was Politically Orchestrated, Cannot Ask Them to Return

The acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, described the abandonment of the justice system by former Serbian judges and prosecutors as a well-planned political move.

During a government meeting, Kurti stressed that the mass withdrawal at the end of 2022 marked the beginning of a chain of sabotaging acts against the state. He recalled that at the time he had appealed to Serbs not to abandon their posts, but clarified that he could not ask them to return afterwards. “We had no right to tell them ‘come back,’ because that contradicts the constitutional and legal framework. While the appeal not to leave was politically legitimate, an invitation to return is not within our competence,” he declared.

The acting head of the executive emphasized that such a return would be impossible, as they themselves undermined the country’s legal and constitutional foundation through their act of departure.

Kurti added that the security and justice institutions have already addressed the matter. “The Kosovo Police handled these resignations earlier, and recently the Prosecutorial Council also took steps. Today we expected the Judicial Council to follow the same path, but the meeting failed due to lack of quorum,” he stated, expressing his expectation that the issue will reach its conclusion in the next session.