Kosovar university professor Nexhmedin Spahiu has confirmed he met Serbia’s Foreign Minister Marko Đurić in Belgrade during a recent international conference, describing the meeting as a step towards advancing dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo.
Speaking in a televised interview with Kosovo’s Info Nata programme, Spahiu said the meeting aimed to foster international recognition for Kosovo and to address longstanding issues in the Balkans.
“This meeting was necessary because one of the biggest challenges right now is achieving recognition from Serbia. Dialogue is key,” Spahiu said. “It was a private meeting in a city that Serbia does not yet recognise as part of Kosovo, but the very act of this meeting represents significant progress.”
Spahiu, a former adviser to Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, said he and Đurić discussed regional stability, interethnic relations, and the ongoing Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
“We spoke for about an hour. The focus was on the challenges in the region and the importance of improving relations between Kosovo and Serbia,” Spahiu said. “Some have speculated I went there to secure votes for [Kosovo Prime Minister Albin] Kurti, but that was not the case. Our conversation was not political in that sense.”
The meeting has sparked public and political debate, given Serbia’s longstanding refusal to recognise Kosovo’s independence. Spahiu defended his decision to meet the Serbian official, likening it to a patriotic act.
“Questioning why I met Đurić is like asking [Kosovo Liberation Army commander] Adem Jashari why he fought,” Spahiu said. “This was about the will to contribute to Kosovo and what it needs most right now.”
While Spahiu declined to disclose specific details of the conversation, he said the intention was to contribute constructively to resolving sensitive issues and easing tensions between the two sides.
Photographs of the meeting were shared by both parties on social media. Spahiu noted he has known Đurić for over a decade and was invited after the minister learned of his presence in Belgrade. Đurić later said the discussion centred on overcoming tensions and improving interethnic relations.
Nexhmedin Spahiu is a political scientist and mathematician from South Mitrovica. He has taught at several universities, including those in Tirana, Tetovo, Pristina, and Hamburg. He served as an adviser to Prime Minister Haradinaj in 2005 and is the author of The Theory of the Kosovar Nation, along with numerous academic works in political science and mathematics.
In 1999, he founded Radio-Television Mitrovica, which focused on political and cultural debates. He also leads the Assembly of Kosovo NGOs, a representative body of Kosovo’s civil society.