Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti sees Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić as “a puppet of Kremlin that is trying to imitate Russia”.

Speaking to the Italian daily La Repubblica Kurti said “the URSS has transformed in an octopus with the Russian Federation in its center and the tentacles in Donbas, Crimea, Transnistria, South Ossetia. The former Yugoslavia is a small octopus with Serbia in its center, one Serbian entity in Bosnia, one Serbian entity in Montenegro that doesn’t know the independence, and illegal structures in north Kosovo”.

Kurti said he wasn’t surprised by the Russian invasion in Ukraine as Putin wishes to rewrite history.

“The war in Ukraine will not be enough for him. That’s why we are concerned. He may try to do it in the Western Balkans. He may use chemical weapons as he did in Syria. There are three NATO members in the Balkans: Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. Then is my Kosovo, which is not a part, but has NATO by its side (the peacekeeping force KFOR). We must take a further step towards the partnership with the Euro-Atlantic alliance, it is fundamental for the security in the region and we will lean on Italy’s help”.

Concerning Serbia’s position, Kurti said: “He (Vučić) wants Europe’s money and Russia’s weapons. Also the Russian gas, which he buys with a convenient price, but in reality it is a very expensive price: being Kremlin’s puppet. Last year, Kosovo participated with 350 soldiers in NATO’s biggest exercise, Defender Europe 2021. Serbia participated with Russia and Belarus in Zapad 2021. They have these medieval, pan-Slavic, very dark myths”.