Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday snubbed a demand to testify before the Special Prosecution in Pristina and instead headed 45 kilometres east to Gjilan/Gnjilane to inaugurate the start of work on a kindergarten.

The prime minister defied the court’s order to testify in a case related to state commodity reserves of essential food items, after ignoring three previous prosecution summonses in a dispute over where he should give testimony.

Over the summer of 2023, allegations arose that 600,000 euros was spent from state reserves on wheat, oil and sugar that cannot be accounted for. Two Ministry of Trade officials and a private businessman were arrested, only to be released two weeks later without charges.

At loggerheads with the prosecution, Kurti has often accused it of siding with the opposition – a theme he echoed on Tuesday.

“The prosecution has never been freer. They are misusing this freedom to fight the government and not crime and corruption. I have always been ready to testify… If my testimony was important for the prosecution, they should have come to us. A prosecutor whose main aim is the testimony of a witness does not waste time,” he said.

Kurti was first invited to testify in December 2024, when political parties were in the final touches of preparing their campaigns for elections, which were held on February 9.

His cabinet immediately challenged the proposed venue. Kurti wants to receive the prosecutors at his office rather than go to their office.

“I have never said I won’t testify or refuse to give my testimony. On the contrary, I have said that I am ready and interested in testifying,” Kurti told journalists after the event in Gjilan/Gnjilane on Tuesday.

“The question is why the prosecution has wasted three months. It is my strong belief that they are more interested to fill the front pages [of news websites] of some oligarchs than bring about justice,” he added.

The statement drew a critical reaction from the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK.

“The AJK condemns the prime minister’s language and stresses that such rhetoric is unacceptable, endangers journalists and media and undermines the freedom of media and expression in Kosovo,” it said.