International

The Swedish authorities refused to allow Albin Kurti, Chair of Kosovar opposition movement Ventëvedosje, to visit the European Social Forum, held in September in Malmö. Kurti could not obtain a visa and was constantly held up by bureaucratic demands which appeared deliberately designed to make his trip to Sweden impossible.

Invited guest

The activist and fighter against corruption Albin Kurti was invited to speak in Malmö by the Danish organisation STS International Solidarity. Kurti had to go to Macedonia in order to look into getting hold of a visa, yet was forced to return to his country empty-handed. SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer and his Danish colleague Søren Søndergaard of the Red-Green Alliance, both members of the United European Left group (GUE) in the European Parliament, have put a series of written questions to the European Commission, challenging Commissioners to take some action in relation to this apparent refusal to allow Albin Kurti on to Swedish soil.

Albin Kurti (left) Erik Meijer (centre) and Visar Ymeri, Kosovo, summer 2008

Dissident

Meijer was in Kosovo last summer on a fact-finding mission to bring himself up to date with the situation in the country. He held meetings with dissident politicians, including Albin Kurti. "It's important that others have the chance to hear Kurti's political insights," he says. "He is the chair of a movement which is trying to bring about change in Kosovo from below and it's important that his voice is heard by us as well. As things stand European public opinion is for the most part dependent on officials of international organisations and of foreign military forces who are trying to bring order to the country from above." One of the questions which Meijer and Søndergaard are putting to the Commission is what they intend to do to avoid a repetition of this course of events.