President Osmani visits the United States

2025-02-05 14:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani will be in the United States from February 5, where she will meet with American officials and deliver a speech at the Morning Prayers in Washington.

The Presidency of Kosovo announced that Osmani is in the US at the invitation of a group of American congressmen, to participate in the National Morning Prayers, as well as to deliver a speech at one of the main events of this organization of the American Congress.

"On this occasion, she will speak about the journey of the people of Kosovo from the most difficult days to today's successes, emphasizing the unparalleled faith and resilience of our citizens," the announcement says.

Morning Prayers are held annually, usually on the first Thursday of February, and are attended by senior American politicians and foreign guests. The event is followed by a speech by the US president.

The presidency also said that Osmani will also hold meetings with American congressmen and US administration officials, "with a focus on strengthening the strategic partnership between Kosovo and the United States of America, as well as advancing our country's Euro-Atlantic aspirations."

Earlier, the US Department of State announced on its website that Osmani will meet with Louis L. Bono, the senior official in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

Bono took office on January 20, after US President Donald Trump officially began his second term in the White House, and Osmani will be the first Kosovar leader to meet with a Trump administration official.

Bono is a member of the Senior Foreign Service and most recently served as Senior Advisor for Negotiations in the Caucasus.

He has also worked at the US Embassy in Berlin, and has been deputy permanent representative at the United Nations Office in Vienna and at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Osmani, who had congratulated Trump after winning the elections in November, in her annual speech to the Kosovo Assembly at the end of last year called on MPs to maintain relations with allied countries, saying that harming relations with these countries harms Kosovo itself.

She said at the time that Kosovo's alliance with other countries is "bigger and more important than any of us as politicians."

Osmani made those calls at a time when the Kosovo government was being criticized by the international community, including the United States, for "unilateral and uncoordinated" actions in the Serb-majority north, which were related to replacing Serbian license plates with Kosovo ones, removing the Serbian dinar from use, or closing Serbian institutions.

Osman's visit to the State Department follows statements two days ago by the US envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, that the United States needs reliable partners in the Balkans, while the government of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, according to him, is not one of them.

Grenell – former US ambassador to Berlin – made these criticisms on the social network X, less than a week before the parliamentary elections in Kosovo are held on February 9.

Radio Free Europe contacted Prime Minister Kurti's cabinet regarding these comments, but did not receive a response.

Kurti has justified those actions as steps towards extending the rule of law to the north and has said that they are in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Kosovo.

James O'Brien, who served as Assistant Secretary of State in the administration of Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, said that Kurti, with such actions, has called into question the partnership with the United States.

Even after this statement, Kurti insisted that the US remains Kosovo's most important partner. /REL