54 Facts About Albin Kurti

Albin Kurti came to prominence in 1997 as the vice-president of the University of Pristina student union, and a main organizer of non-violent student demonstrations of 1997 and 1998.

Albin Kurti has been a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo since 2010 in three consecutive legislatures.

Albin Kurti was born on 24 March 1975 in Pristina, Kosovo of SFR Yugoslavia.

Albin Kurti's mother, Arife Albin Kurti is a retired elementary school teacher, born and educated in Pristina.

Albin Kurti graduated university in 2003 in Telecommunications and Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Pristina.

Albin Kurti first came to prominence in October 1997, as one of the leaders of the student protests in Kosovo.

The protests were crushed violently, but the students and Albin Kurti did not stop the resistance and they organized other protests in the following months.

In July 1998, Albin Kurti collaborated as assistant of the political representative Adem Demaci, close to the UCK group.

Albin Kurti was first sent to the Dubrava Prison, but as the Serbian army withdrew from Kosovo, they transferred him to a prison in Pozarevac on 10 June 1999.

Albin Kurti was released in December 2001 by Yugoslavia's post-Milosevic government after being pardoned by President Vojislav Kostunica amid international pressure.

Albin Kurti organised non-violent protests in support of the families of those whose relatives disappeared in the war, and in favor of Kosovo's self-determination.

On 23 April 2003 Albin Kurti graduated with a degree in Computer and Telecommunications Sciences from the University of Prishtina.

Albin Kurti was an activist for the Action for Kosovo Network, which was formed in 1997, and was a movement whose mission focused on human rights and social justice, education, culture and art.

Albin Kurti was detained until July 2007 and then kept under house arrest.

The Vetevendosje MPs, including Albin Kurti, were escorted out of the parliament by police for disrupting the session of the assembly.

Albin Kurti ran for prime minister again in the following elections in 2014, but Vetevendosje was third again, only gaining 16 seats.

Vetevendosje and Albin Kurti personally were involved in the protests within the parliament that earned international attention by setting off tear gas in the parliament on multiple cases.

On 3 January 2018 Albin Kurti was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison on probation for his role in setting off the tear-gas in 2015.

Albin Kurti became Prime Minister of Kosovo in early February 2020.

Albin Kurti visited Durres on Friday to survey the damage and stressed the importance for institutional cooperation between both Kosovo and Albania.

On 18 March 2020, Albin Kurti sacked Interior Minister Agim Veliu due to his support for declaring a state of emergency to handle the coronavirus pandemic, which would have given power to the Kosovo Security Council chaired by Hashim Thaci.

The Albin Kurti cabinet continued as a caretaker government, until 3 June 2020, when Avdullah Hoti was elected as the next Prime Minister.

On 26 January 2021, Albin Kurti was barred from running in the 2021 Kosovan parliamentary election by Kosovo's election complaints panel, as he had been convicted of a crime less than three years prior to the election.

On 3 February 2020, Albin Kurti was elected Prime Minister of Kosovo with 66 votes in favor and 10 abstains, 34 opposition MPs boycotted the vote and left the Kosovo assembly building.

Albin Kurti was elected Prime Minister of Kosovo for a second time on 22 March 2021 with 67 members of the assembly voting in favour and 30 members against.

In 2021, Albin Kurti's government faced Kosovo's biggest energy crisis since 2010, leading the government to declare a state of emergency for energy on 24 December 2021.

Albin Kurti has stated that Kosovo has increased its GDP in first three years of his government's rule.

Albin Kurti further stated that they are trying to reduce the poverty rate.

Albin Kurti has stated that they have made progress in the fight against organized crime during his first two years in power, from 2021 to 2023.

The Albin Kurti government has increased the budget for the Ministry of Defense.

On 27 November 2024, Prime Minister Albin Kurti signed the decision to initiate procedures for the establishment of the defense industry of the Republic of Kosovo.

Later, on 16 December 2024, Albin Kurti announced that he had signed an agreement with the state-owned Turkish defense industry producer MKEK for the operation of a factory in Kosovo for the production of ammunition and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Albin Kurti had opposed the "Open Balkan" project which consisted of the three countries Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia.

Albin Kurti had estimated that Serbia was the largest regional producer and opening borders for their goods would harm the economy of Albania and Kosovo.

Rama opposed Albin Kurti, saying that opening the borders was in the interest of the region.

Albin Kurti is a strong supporter of direct-democracy and he has often criticized the Constitution of Kosovo for not allowing direct referendums.

Albin Kurti has continuously criticized the third article of the constitution for not allowing the referendum to happen.

Albin Kurti has claimed that Serbia is threatening Kosovo's security because it has allegedly built 48 military bases along the border with Kosovo.

Albin Kurti has accused Russia of encouraging attacks by Serbs against institutions in Kosovo with the aim of destabilizing the region.

Albin Kurti has criticized Kosovo's stance in its negotiations with Serbia, saying that dialogue should be based on conditions and reciprocity.

Albin Kurti had further criticized the government for not conditioning the dialogue with Serbia on a return of the bodies of missing persons from the Kosovo War buried in mass graves in Serbia, Serbia paying war reparations to Kosovo, along with the return of allegedly stolen pension funds and artifacts.

Albin Kurti stated that Kosovo needed first to negotiate with its Serb minority and the European Union before negotiating with Serbia.

Albin Kurti considers future dialogue with Kosovo's minorities and the EU "a top priority".

Albin Kurti countered by saying that Kosovo could only lift the tariffs if Serbia, for its part, abolished trade restrictions.

In October 2020, Albin Kurti endorsed the Democratic nominee Joe Biden for US president.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has visited the state of Greece several times, where he has participated in various forums.

However, the new Government led by Albin Kurti informed the public that relations with Ali Ahmeti had deteriorated.

Albin Kurti was against the "Open Balkan" initiative, which included Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania.

Albin Kurti had stated that the economic initiative was in favor of Serbia and harmed the economies of neighboring countries.

Albin Kurti had accused Ali Ahmet of flirting with the idea of the president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, about the possibility of exchanging territories between Serbia and Kosovo.

Albin Kurti met with the representatives of this political entity, giving them support in these elections.

The highest official of the Democratic Union for Integration, Bujar Osmani, accused Albin Kurti of interfering in the elections with his actions, but according to him, these interventions will not have an impact on Albanian voters.

Albin Kurti is married to Norwegian researcher Rita Augestad Knudsen and have a daughter together.

Besides his Kosovo citizenship, Albin Kurti holds Albanian citizenship and has voted in Albanian elections.