Zemaj demands proof for Kurti’s statement: Show us at least 17 of the 171 returning doctors

Armend Zemaj, a deputy from the Democratic League of Kosovo and former health minister, has challenged Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s statement that 171 doctors returned to Kosovo to live and work during 2025.

In a response, Zemaj called on the government, the Ministry of Health, and the Hospital and University Clinical Service of Kosovo to support this figure with concrete data by publishing the names of specialists who came from the diaspora and were employed in the public healthcare system.

“I challenge any representative of the government, the Ministry of Health, or the Hospital and University Clinical Service of Kosovo to provide us with just 17 names of specialist doctors, not 171, who returned from the diaspora during 2025 and are now employed under regular contracts in Kosovo’s public healthcare system,” Zemaj said.

The LDK deputy’s response came after Kurti’s speech at the opening ceremony of the fourth edition of the “Swiss Medical School,” an event organized by the Association of Albanian Doctors in Switzerland.

During the event, the prime minister highlighted the need for greater cooperation with Albanian doctors living in the diaspora and announced that, in 2025 alone, 171 doctors had returned to Kosovo to live and work.

Kurti also praised the role of healthcare professionals who continue their work outside Kosovo but return to lecture, train young doctors, and share their professional experience with colleagues in the country.

Zemaj is calling for this statement to be backed by evidence, insisting in particular on the publication of the names of specialist doctors who returned from the diaspora and were employed under regular contracts in the public healthcare sector.