he's been a political prisoner, he launched five tear gas attacks on his own parliament and he has a vision of kosovo unifying with albania. so is he a source of instability in the balkans? theme music plays. prime minister albin kurti in pristina, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. prime minister, your predecessors as leaders of kosovo have all put a big priority in trying to normalise relations with serbia, trying to make peace with serbia. you say it is not even a priority for you. why? we won on 14th of february elections with a landslide victory, with a ticket ofjobs and justice. i don't want to neglect normalisation of relations with serbia, but economic developments on one hand and rule of law against corruption on the other are two top priorities. taken into consideration that we are now amidst a pandemic, covid—19, of course, this means the dialogue with serbia has fallen at best number four in our democratic state building agenda for our independent republic. isn't the truth, if you talk about democratic state building, that nothing can really happen. there can be no real progress toward a more prosperous, more stable kosovo unless you have a normal relationship with your neighbour serbia. so, in the end, surely it's that which must come first. that is an important part of good neighbourly relations, but i must say that kosovo in this year has seen an unprecedented economic growth and our central bank foresees a growth of 9.9% gdp and we took office when last year we saw a contraction of 3.1% of our gdp. exports increased by two thirds in this year, tax revenues by one third, without changing fiscal policy, and we managed to carry out 437 police operations, 746 raids, searches, and we destroyed 31 criminal gangs. so kosovo is a success story and we are doing very well, better than ever in the after—war period. we want good relations with serbia, we want a dialogue where we are going to discuss the status of future relations because the status of kosovo is something that has been sealed with icg opinion on 22nd ofjuly 2010 which says that kosovo�*s declaration of independence did not violate international law. so good relations with serbia will help, but they are not top priority. let me just stop you for a second, prime minister. you say you do want better relations with serbia, but isn't the truth that the serbian president, mr vucic, when he last spoke with you, he said, you know what, i thought that relations with kosovo couldn't get any worse but i now realise they can always get worse. the serbs see you as a troublemaker, they point to the fact that you just demanded, what, a month ago, that all serbs crossing the border into kosovo change their license plates. that was just regarded as petty and aggressive. why are you playing these games? i'm just using reciprocity measures because we are an independent country. for ten years, citizens of kosovo have been paying five euros every time they cross the border towards serbia to get their temporary car plates. now with the expiring of this agreement on mid—september this year, we started to implement the same measures, so they take temporary car plates in kosovo once they enter our territory. but we don't want to have these barriers, we want to remove them all together, but they have to get used to reciprocity measures and not any more to asymmetric situation where we have to pay for their aggressiveness. 22 years ago, 19 countries got together and nato bombed yugoslavia — serbia at that time. it must have been very bad then, and of course it was very bad because there was genocide in kosovo. at that time, president of serbia that you've mentioned was minister of information of milosevic�*s government. so i think that when he says such allegations, you should take them with a certain reserve. isn't there a simple truth here which is that if we look at your political record, you basically seem to believe kosovo is better off in a state of permanent hostility with serbia. after all, it was you back in 2015 who when the kosovo parliament was considering an agreement over the treatment of the serb minority in your country, an agreement you didn't like, an agreement which the serbian government supported, you let off tear gas inside the parliamentary chamber in protest. your record suggests you'll do pretty much anything to prevent a normal, peaceful relationship with serbia. i was a political activist throughout my life. sometimes i was radical, but that was accordingly to the topic, not because of my character. in 2015 and 16, there was this attempt to do bosniasation of kosovo, namely to regroup certain majority municipalities into third layer of power under direct control of belgrade, and of course we did not allow that to happen. we want good relations with serbia and we need mutual recognition, mutual recognition between the republic of kosovo and the republic of serbia. it should be the centrepiece, the organising principle of future comprehensive agreement. only on the basis of eu values and principles. only on mutual recognition and reciprocity in our relations we can have long—time peace and stability. prime minister, the eu has called upon you to treat the serb minority in your country with greater respect, offer them greater equality. if one looks at a whole host of independent human rights reports, there is a consistent theme — that the serbs who live in kosovo are excluded from the economy, are not treated fairly by the judicial system, are in effect forced to remain within their small enclaves. are you prepared to tell me that you will give a better, fairer deal to the serbs who live in your territory? these are not correct allegations. serbs in kosovo are around 5—6% of the population, they are not discriminated, but these things that serbia tried to impose on kosovo statehood and our constitutional construction were not the desire or the will of the serbs of kosovo, but an expression of the hegemonic aspirations of serbia. so, when association of serb majority municipalities in kosovo was not implemented, no serb of kosovo protested, ever. it was always belgrade who was angry. and in the 1991, 26th of april, a0 municipalities with serb majority in bosnia and herzegovina, they got together, created their association. 9th of january 1992, they declared independence. 28th of february 1992, they got the constitution, and finally, 14th of december 1995 in dayton ohio, international recognition. the want to repeat bosnian kosovo. i'm not going to allow this, be that in opposition or the government, and that's that people voted me, to prevent bosniasation of kosovo. i am confident that with our programme, we are going to help serbs as much as albanians. if you ask serbs in kosovo what are your key complaints or requirements, they will sayjobs and justice. but belgrade wants to have a state within a state. a state of serbia within the independent state of kosovo. there is, if i may say so there is one obvious way out of this and it was a way out that was seen by your former president thaci and that was to agree small limited territorial swaps with serbia so that they could integrate into their country, the serbian minority, you could get some recompense with land swaps and that surely would put an end to this hostility. are you prepared, as was former president thaci, to negotiate on that basis? of course not. i want dialogue to be about the rights and the needs of the citizens, not about territorial exchange. but it is in the nature of autocrats to think that they can swap territories as if they are their property. but we are not in medieval times with monarchs who consider the territory of the state as the land of the father or the monarch and the people are the family of the one who leads. we are a democratic republic and no such solutions will be on the table and that's why i won in these elections because people of kosovo do not want that. i think also serbs don't want that. it is president of serbia who wants that. and now, because i came to power, he does not mention any more delimitation with albanians and territorial solutions, but he wants to have bosniasation of kosovo in the form of a serbian autonomous entity within our republic in order to render us dysfunctional and a failed state, but that is not going to happen. the problem for you, mr prime minister, is that as long as this limbo exists for kosovo, and after all, you've had your statehood for, what, 13 years and more, and yet half of the world doesn't recognise you, including five member states of the european union will not offer you recognition. the problem is that as long as this hostility with serbia continues, your limbo status will continue, and ijust wonder whether you are offering the people of your country any brighter future? we are progressing in rule of law, fighting corruption, socio—economic development in spite of the problems with serbia and that's why the president of serbia is in panic, because of our progress, he is in panic and he wants some kind of quick fix now. like he was aiming with my predecessors. but let's not forget, out of 27 member states of the eu, 22 recognise us. so only five do not, but vast majority do recognise us. and out of 30 member states of nato, it is 26 that do recognise us. we have recognition, massive recognition from the democratic world. of course, within the five security council permanent members, russian federation and china do not recognise us, but uk, france and us do. so let's see on the positive side. who are those who do not recognise us? well, hang on, you don't have to convince me, prime minister, you have to convince your own people and your own people right now you have a big problem with the eu, you can't even get visa liberalisation and your own people right now you have a big problem with the eu, you can't even get visa liberalisation because the eu is very sceptical about your economy, about potential migration, and president macron of france kosovo, and indeed other countries in the western balkans to become full members of the european union. so your desire for a closer relationship with europe is stuck. well, eu has helped us a lot in these years with different funds and all the aspects and we look forward tojoin the eu one day. it is not fair towards us that we still don't have visa liberalisation. namely injuly this year, we marked three years since the european commission recommended for the second time that we should get visa liberalisation but we still did not get, and that is not because of eu. it's because of certain eu member states. however, the lack of trust, of confidence somehow, in western balkan 6 countries, not only in kosovo, by the side of the eu, has also to do with the lack of eu self confidence. so, i am critical towards eu, i want tojoin the eu. i want to join the eu but i don't belong to those who are bitter towards the eu. i think that europe is a continent and eu is our destiny. have you read the latest eu report on the progress, or lack of, that kosovo is making in key areas? it is damning of where your country is in terms of the rule of law, human rights, economic freedoms. i don't know if you've read the report but if you have, then your country is never going to develop a close relationship with the eu unless you fundamentally change. of course we want to change. we want to progress and we will do that and we need the eu help. i believe the eu values should be home—grown in western balkans, in particularly in my country, but they cannot be self—made. we need help from the outside and i think we will get that. but the progress report of this year mentions first six months of previous governments and six months of our government, so it takes a absurd average evaluation. but again, it also marks certain progresses that we did. for example, in western balkan 6, kosovo is top country regarding the extent of vaccination of the population. we have managed to administer 1.6 million doses and we have, of all population who are over 16 years old, it's 55% with two doses and 64% with one dose. so we are doing much better than before and eu knows this as well. yeah, but i'm putting myself in the position of a young kosovan, maybe in their early 20s. they look at your unemployment rate for young people which is nearly 50%. they look at the fact that they can have a much better life if they can make it to croatia or still better for some of them, make it into the eu, to germany. you have a brain drain of young talent. your country, as i said before, is stuck and i'm not sure that you're offering your people any way out of the economic and the corruption crisis that you're in. well i tried to explain that we have increased tax revenues by one third without changing tax policy, fiscal policy. so, people that you've mentioned who are unemployed, youth, they voted for us. that's why i'm in power because they are dissatisfied. but this does not mean that they are depressed, they are just dissatisfied and they got the government that they always wanted and we are only seven months in office now, not seven years, it's seven months. and we are doing well. we took kosovo with minus 3.1% negative growth of gdp and we're going to have a double digit growth for the first time in after—war kosovo which is unprecedented in the balkans. you have to recognise and acknowledge this. people are optimistic and hopeful, and rightly so. well, prime minister, symbols are important and one key symbol as to whether kosovo is prepared to play by the rules of the international community is whether you're prepared to accept the special court that has been set up in the hague to try suspects suspected of committing war crimes in the late 1990s, that is specifically people who were members of the kosovo liberation army which of course you were associated with in the late 1990s. now, yourformer president thaci currently faces charges. you have suggested you do not accept the legitimacy of this court, whereas your own president, who we've had on hardtalk, she clearly does accept the legitimacy of that court, so here's your chance, with me, right now, to say that you've changed your mind and you do accept the special court in the hague. many think that i have found as legacy of my predecessors, i do not like. but it's a fait accompli, there's nothing i can do about it. so, specialist chambers, they are not very transparent justice systems and they have not shown that they are multi—ethnic. so, they have been taking only kla leaders who are albanians and as if no one else did crimes here — war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. but i think that time will show that truth in kosovo demands justice, and that is that serbia is the one who should be punished. unfortunately, until now, with specialist chambers, we haven't seen the right pace to satisfy the victims in kosovo. five years ago, big mistakes were done but i have to live with them, unfortunately. i'm not sure you've actually answered my question, mr prime minister, it's quite a simple one. your president 0smani said to me, "we didn't say we're going to acceptjust a part of the international legal process, we accepted all of it." "we clearly do believe in internationaljustice". i'm inviting you to make the same commitment. will you accept the legitimacy of the special court in the hague, particularly when it comes to the trial of former president thaci. well i think i already answered, but i can repeat my answer and that is that we respect internationaljustice. kosovo had unmik, kosovo had united nations mission in kosovo, eulex, we had icty and another special court i don't think was necessary but it is here now. but they are not asking for my cooperation, so i give them my support, to be honest. because it's a very non—transparent sui generis court with one leg in kosovo and the other leg in hague. so, it is a much more complex situation with this latest court. i believe that we need normal courts that are going to try all war and peace crimes in spite of the ethnicity of the perpetrators and not as it has been done with a specialist court. but, let's hope that this can be corrected and rectified in the near future. mr prime minister, i need to ask you a very basic question and it's based upon flags. right behind you on screen, i can see the flag, the official state flag of kosovo, but you personally, it seems, much prefer to be photographed with the albanian flag behind you and that is because you're quite open when you say that albania is one nation divided across two states and you believe kosovo�*s destiny is to be integrated into albania. how can you be the leader of your own state and yet telling your people you don't believe in the future of your state? to outsiders, that seems incredible. well, i believe in the republic of kosovo and thanks to republic of kosovo, i'm prime minister of kosovo, here to serve republic of kosovo, but when we declared independence over 13 years ago, we did not do that in contrast to albania, but as an expression of liberation from serbia, and liberation from serbia made possible for us as albanians to restore our dignity and our civic and human rights. now, towards a serb of kosovo, i'm not first of all albanian, i'm citizen of the republic. but historically, whenever serbia attacked kosovo, then albanians always united because serbia was a small imperialistic power, very closely linked with moscow and in our region, it was the most powerful one in the last century and a half. that's why albanian identity is also very strong, not only because of language. prime minister, we're almost out of time, we can't afford to go through too much history, ijust need a simple answer from you. are you still arguing that the constitution needs to be changed and that kosovans need to have a referendum on whether to be integrated with albania? is that your vision for the future of kosovo? i consider unfair, injustice, that there is no possibility to have referendum. and that referendum would be an expression of the freedom of the people. but now, this time, here where i am, i have been elected forjobs and justice and this is what i will be doing in the many years to come. independence of kosovo is not against serbs, and independence of kosovo, first of all, it is independence from serbia and not from albania. throughout your political career, you've been seen as something of a firebrand, a guy who was prepared to take direct action, even to let off tear gas in the parliamentary chamber. some worry that you are a force for instability in the balkans. what's your message to the people who fear that you could bring great damage to your country and the region? 50.28% voted for us in the last elections and three top candidates in our winning list now are chairing three main institutions of our republic. political stability has never been higher precisely with a political activist like me becoming prime minister of our independent republic. prime minister albin kurti, in pristina, i thank you very much for being on hardtalk. thank you. hello there. after the rather chilly conditions of the last few days, things are going to feel a little bit different as we head towards the weekend. some milder weather in the forecast, but with that quite a lot of cloud feeding and from the west. and for some of us through the weekend there is some wet and windy weather on the way. this warm front has been working its way south and east and is introducing more in the way of cloud, but also introducing a westerly wind, so that is bringing a milderfeel. a milder start to friday for many. the coldest conditions down towards the south and the east where the skies have remained clear. and that's where we will see the best of any sunshine through the morning. for many other places there is going to be a lot of cloud. that cloud, at times, producing some spots of light rain and drizzle. especially over high ground in western scotland. we will hold onto a little bit of brightness at times across eastern scotland, northeast england, parts of east wales, the midlands and down towards the southeast. and the temperatures a little higher than they have been. double digits for almost all of us. ten to 13 degrees at best. as we head through friday night bonfire night of course, expect mild conditions. a lot of cloud, some spots of rain and drizzle, and then through the early hours of saturday expect some heavier rain starting to push and towards the western side of scotland. it will be quite a mild start to the weekend. seven, eight, nine, 10 degrees. but for saturday, well high pressure will hold on down towards the south, low pressure is pushing close to the north of the uk and this frontal system here will bring some outbreaks of quite heavy rain southwards and eastwards across scotland, and northern ireland. some of that rain eventually getting down into northwest england and north wales. ahead of that southern and eastern parts of england largely dry, but quite cloudy. brightening up eventually towards the northwest where it will also be turning very windy. but we stick with that milder theme. 12 to 1a degrees. now through saturday night as this area of low pressure passes close to northern scotland, notice the white lines, the isobars squeezing together. there will be a swathe of really strong winds. quite widely it will be windy, but wind gusts could get up to 70 mph. even a touch more in the most exposed spots in northern scotland. but for sunday, we can expect more in the way of sunshine. showers continuing in the far north where we keep a fairly brisk breeze. it will feel a little cooler by this stage, but still top temperatures of ten to 13 degrees. welcome to newsday, on pbs and around the globe. reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko 0i. the headlines: consigning coal to history. more than a0 countries pledge to end its use, but major producers — including the us, india and china — are not signed up. but could china also be the key to getting green technologies into less developed countries quickly and cheaply? 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