There has never been, and never will be, an anti-American government in Kosovo, said the President of the country, Vjosa Osmani. According to her, Kosovo has had and will always have the most pro-American governments anyone can find. However, she stated that each government has its own methods, strategies, and ways of working with partners.

The head of state said she has close cooperation with the United States, as she sees it as an existential partner in the development and protection of Kosovo’s freedom and independence.

She made this comment after being asked on Monday about the statement of former U.S. diplomat Philip Reeker, who recently said that Kosovo needs a government that can cooperate with the United States.

On Monday, Osmani also received American congressmen Mike Turner and Donald Norcross.

“In Kosovo there has never been, and never will be, an anti-American government. Kosovo has had, and will always have, even in the future, the most pro-American governments someone could find. We have the most pro-American population in the world, and every government of Kosovo comes from this people. We cannot have differences between the people who create the government, or the voters who create the government, and the government itself, while each government has its own methods, strategies, and ways of working with partners. For how they have worked and how they will work in the future, I suggest you direct those questions to the government. As for my work as president, I can assure you that I have had and continue to have close cooperation with the U.S., as I see them as an existential partner in the development of Kosovo and the protection of our freedom and independence, as well as in overcoming the security challenges we face,” she said.

Osmani also spoke about the budget crisis in the municipalities of Pristina, Gjilan, and Zubin Potok.

She said she used all her competencies last week so that the Assembly could approve the budgets of these three municipalities, but the parties in parliament did not reach a compromise.

Regarding this, President Osmani said that those who wanted the capital to have a budget had the opportunity to approve it before the Assembly was dissolved, including international agreements and the budget for RTK.

According to her, this would have been legal, constitutional, and in line with past parliamentary practices, such as in 2020 after the Hoti government was declared unconstitutional.

“Every competency I had, I used it. Initially by requesting that the Assembly meet before the vote for the second mandate’s government so that one of the separate items of the agenda would be the budget for the capital, Gjilan, and Zubin Potok. That was a separate agenda item and had nothing to do with the 2026 budget. Whoever wanted the capital to have a budget had the opportunity to vote for it as a separate item… I did not sign the decree for dissolution, and I invited political parties where I pleaded that before the Assembly is dissolved, they return to the hall to approve international agreements, the budgets for the municipalities without budgets, RTK, and the budget extension. I asked the prime minister whether he could withdraw the 2026 budget so that we could address only the other items, and he agreed that the budget issue be removed and that the session proceed only with the other points… But unfortunately, there was no agreement from the other parties. The opportunity to approve existed, but there was no political will,” she said.

Asked about criticisms and accusations that “she is the president of an LVV official, Dejona Mihali,” Osmani said such accusations are not worth even a second of her time.

“Who said such a thing? It’s not even worth spending a second on Ganimete Musliu’s accusations,” she said.

Osmani also spoke to the media about developments in the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council. She said they are analyzing the process from a legal standpoint regarding what she called the attempted dismissal of the Acting Chief State Prosecutor, Besim Kelmendi.

We are analyzing the process from a legal perspective. At the same time, as President of the Republic and guarantor of the constitutional functioning of institutions, I am in cooperation and coordination with the QUINT states regarding these extremely serious developments. A very concerning issue is that five members of the Prosecutorial Council publicly stated they do not feel safe and have requested protection from the security institutions in the country. As president, I am dealing with this matter in cooperation with the government. It is unforgivable that 26 years after the war we have members of the Prosecutorial Council—whether prosecutors or not—who do not feel safe and feel threatened… It is very important that my statements are not seen as interference, since I am a political figure who has never interfered in the justice system. We must also leave room for joint analysis with partners regarding what happened—regarding what I prefer to call the attempted dismissal,” she concluded.

Four days ago, in a meeting of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, a decision was made to dismiss the Acting Chief State Prosecutor, Besim Kelmendi.

With five votes in favor, Kelmendi was dismissed from his position, and starting tomorrow, prosecutor Agron Qalaj will take over his role.