On the 18th anniversary of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, an unusual situation occurred between two of the country’s highest state institutions. The Presidency and the Government failed to reach an agreement regarding the gifting of a mineral stone from Trepça to Donald Trump.
The Ministry of Economy refused to give the Presidency a mineral stone from the Trepça mining enterprise, which President Vjosa Osmani had planned to present to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, during the inauguration ceremony of the “Peace Board”.
Sources close to the ministry led by Artane Rizvanolli confirmed to the newspaper Nacionale that correspondence between the two institutions regarding this matter had taken place.
Attempting to follow the tradition of former President Ibrahim Rugova, who used to gift Trepça mineral stones to friends of Kosovo, President Vjosa Osmani had planned to honor Donald Trump with a similar gift. However, after receiving a refusal from the government led by Albin Kurti, she was forced to meet the White House leader without such a gift.
On February 17, the day before President Vjosa Osmani was scheduled to depart for Washington, the Presidency had written to the Kosovo Museum regarding the possibility of gifting a Trepça mineral stone.
To proceed with such a gift, the museum requested approval from the Ministry of Economy.
The Presidency then formally addressed the Ministry led by Artane Rizvanolli.
In the Presidency’s request, the reasons for seeking the mineral stone were explained:
“In order to fulfill state needs and based on the public interest, we address you with this request to consider the possibility of granting ownership of a mineral stone from the enterprise Trepça for state purposes (attached you will find the photo). This mineral stone will serve exclusively to meet protocol needs. Thanking you in advance for your understanding and cooperation, we remain awaiting your response.”
The newspaper Nacionale also obtained the photograph of the stone requested by the Presidency.
However, the Presidency’s reasoning did not convince the Ministry of Economy to approve the request.
Shortly afterward, the Director of the Department of Mines, Skender Sallahi, responded to the Presidency stating that the request could not be fulfilled.
The response explained why the request of the head of state could not be accepted:
“Dear all, based on the short time available to undertake the legal steps necessary to realize this matter, we ask for your understanding regarding the inability to fulfill this request. While asking for your understanding, we express our readiness to cooperate in the future.”
The rejection of this request appears to reflect the increasingly strained relations between President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
The tension between them reportedly escalated last week when Vetëvendosje did not propose Vjosa Osmani as a candidate for president. A few days ago, she also directed harsh criticism toward Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
