Kosovo 25 years after liberation: Prime Minister Albin Kurti at Yale Jackson

What does democratic progress look like a quarter century after liberation? In this inaugural lecture of the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti delivered his keynote "Kosova 25 Years After Liberation: Democratic Progress and a Growing Economy — and the Rising Threat of Russia and Serbia," tracing his country's transformation from a genocide-surviving people to a functioning democracy and growing economy. Speaking at Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs on September 30, 2024, Kurti — himself a former political prisoner — addressed Russian aggression in the region, Kosovo's pursuit of NATO and EU membership, the challenge of governing northern Kosovo, and the distinction between liberation as fact and freedom as aspiration.