in the country. it follows an opening day in which india's prime minister, narendra modi, told the conference that his country aims to become carbon neutral by the year 2070. it's the first time that india, which is the world's fourth biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, has announced a net zero target. emergency teams in nigeria are working through the night to find dozens of people who are feared trapped in the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in lagos. the building was under construction at the time. now on bbc news it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk i'm stephen sackur. kosovo has enjoyed independent

statehood for 13 years, but half the world doesn't recognise it. corruption is endemic in its own prime minister has doubts about the desirability of independence and that prime minister is my guest today. albin kurti has had a turbulent career. he's been a political prisoner and launched five tear gas attacks on his own parliament and he has a vision of kosovo unifying with albania. so is he a source of instability in the balkans? prime minister albin kurti.

welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. your status as prime minister of kosovo have all put a big priority in trying to normalise relations with serbia, trying to make peace with serbia. you say it is not even a priority for you. why? we won on the 14th of february elections with a landslide victory with a ticket ofjobs and justice. i don't want to neglect normalisations with serbia, but economic developments on one hand and rule of law against corruption on the other are two top priorities. taken into consideration that we are now amidst the pandemic of covid—19, of of course, this means this is fallen at best at number four of our democratic state building agenda

for our independent republic. isn't the truth if you talk about democratic state building, nothing can really happen. there can be no real progress towards a more prosperous, more stable kosovo unless you have a normal relationship with your neighbour serbia. so, in the end, it is that which must come first. that is an important part of good neighbour relations, but i must say kosovo in this year has seen an unprecedented economic growth and our central bank forsees a growth of 9.9% gdp and we took office when last year with slight contraction of 3.8% of our gdp. exports increased by two thirds this year, tax revenues by one third, without changing fiscal policy and we managed to carry out 437 police operations,

746 raids, searches, and we destroyed 31 criminal gangs. so kosovo is a success story we are doing very well, better than ever in the after war period. we want good relations with serbia, we want a dialogue where we are going to discuss the status of future relations because the status of kosovo is something that has been sealed with icg opinion on 22nd ofjuly 2010 which says that kosovo�*s declaration of independence did not violate international law. so, good relations with serbia will help, but they are not top priority. let me stop you for a second, prime minister, you say you do want better relationships with serbia, but isn't the truth that the serbian president, mr vukic, when he last spoke with you, he said you know what,

i thought relations with kosovo couldn't get any worse but i realise they can always get worse. the serbs see you as a troublemaker, the point of the fact that you just demanded a month ago that all serbs crossing the border to kosovo changed their license plates. that is seen as petty and aggressive. why are you playing these games? i'm just using reciprocity measures and for ten years, they have been paid 5 euros every time they crossed the border to serbia to get their temporary car plates. not with the expiring of this agreement on mid—september this year, we started to implement the same measures and once they enter those territories. but we do not want that but they have to get used to reciprocity measures and not any more to situations where we have to pay for that aggressiveness.

22 years ago, 19 countries got together and nato bombed yugoslavia — serbia at that time. it must have been very bad thing and of course it was very bad because there was genocide in kosovo and the president of serbia that you mentioned was minister of information from that government. ——milosovic�*s government. so, i think when he says such allegations, you should take them with a certain grain of salt stop by looking at your political record, you seem to believe kosovo is better off in a state of permanent hostility with serbia. after all, it was you back in 2015 when the kosovo parliament was considering an agreement over the treatment of the serb minority in your country, an agreement

you didn't like, an agreement the serbian government supported, you let off tear gas and save the chamber in protest. your record suggests you'll do pretty much anything to prevent a normal, peaceful relationship with serbia. i was a political activist throughout my life. sometimes i was radical, but that was according to the topic, not because of my character. in 2015 and 16, there was this attempt to do bosniavation of kosovo, trying to regroup certain majority municipalities into the third layer of power and of course, we did not allow that to happen. we want good relations with serbia and we need mutual recognition, mutual recognition between the republic of kosovo and it should be the organising principle forfuture comprehensive agreements. only on the basis of eu values and principles. only on mutual recognition and reciprocity in our

relations we can have long—term peace and stability. respect, offering them greater, ——prime minister, they have called upon you with great respect, offering them greater, looking at independent human rights reports, there is a consistent theme that the serbs who live in kosovo are excluded from the economy, are not treated fairly by the judicial system, are in effect forced to remain within their small enclaves. are you prepared to tell me that you will give a better, fairer deal to the serbs who live in your territory? these are not correct allegations. ——these are not correct allegations. there around five to 6% of the population and they are not discriminated. but, these things that serbia tried to impose

on kosovo statehood and our constitutional construction were not the desire of the will of the serbs of kosovo, but an example of the hegemonic aspirations of serbia. so when kosovo was not implemented, no serbian of kosovo protested, ever. it was always belgrade who was angry. in the 1991, 26th of april, a0 municipalities with a certain majority of bosniaherzegovina, they got together, created their association. the 9th ofjanuary nine, 1992, they declared independence, 28th of february 1992, they got the constitution and finally, 14th of december 1985 in dayton ohio, they wanted to repeal bosnian kosovo and i might want to allow this.

be it in our position or the government. and that is that people voted to prevent this in kosovo. i am confident that with our programme, we are going to help serbs is much as albanians. if you ask serbs in kosovo what are your key complaints or requirements, they will sayjobs and justice. but belgrade wants to have a state within a state. the state of serbia with independence. there is one obvious way out of this and it is a way that was seen by your former president and that was small limited swaps with serbia which they could integrate with their country and the minority and you can get some recompense with land swaps and that surely would put an end to this hostility. as with the former president, will you negotiate with that

basis? i want dial to be about the needs of the citizens mostly. no territorial exchange. but they think they can swap territories as if they are their property. but we are not in medieval times with monarchs who considered the territory of the state is the land of the father or the monarch and the people are the family of the one who leads. we are a democratic republic and no such solution will be on the table and that is why i won in these elections because people of kosovo do not want that. i think also serbs do not want that. it is the president of serbia who wants that. there is no longer limitations with territorial solutions, but he wants to have bosnian cessation in the form of this and our republic to render us dysfunctional and a failed state but that is not going to happen. the problem for you, mr prime minister, is that as long as

this limbo exists for kosovo, and after all, you have had your statehood for 13 years and more and yet half of the world doesn't recognise you, including five member states of the european union will not offer you recognition. the problem is that as long as this hostility with serbia continues, your limbo status will continue, and ijust wonder whether you will offer the people of your country any brighter future? we are progressing in rule of law, fighting corruption, socioeconomic development in spite of the problems with serbia and that is why the president of serbia is in panic, because of our progress, he is in panic and he wants some kind of quick fix now. like he was aiming with my predecessors. but let's not forget, out of 27 member states of the eu, 22 recognise us.

so only five do not, by the majority of us do. and out of 30 member states of nato, it is 26 that do recognise us. and we have massive recognition from the democratic world and within the five security council permanent members, russian federation and china do not recognise us but uk, france and the us do. so, let's see on the positive side, for those who do not recognises. you don't have to convince me, you have to convince young people in your own people say that right now you have a big problem with the eu and you can't even get a visa because the eu was very sceptical about your economy and your potential migration and president macron of france makes it clear he has no intentions of allowing kosovo and other countries in the western balkans to become full members of the european union. so your desire for

a closer relationship with europe is stuck. well, the eu has helped us a lot in these years with different funds and all the aspects and we look forward tojoin the eu one day. it is not fair towards us that we just don't have visa liberalisation, mainly injuly this year, we marked three years since the european commission recommended for the second time that we should get visa but we still did not get that it's not because of the eu. it's because of certain eu member states. however, the lack of trust, of confidence somehow, in western balkan six countries, not only in kosovo, but on the side of the eu has also to do with the lack of use of confidence. ——eu confidence. so, i am critical towards

the eu, i want tojoin the eu, i want tojoin the eu. but i do not belong to those who are bitter towards the eu. i think europe is a continent and eu is our destiny. have you read the latest un report on the progress or lack thereof that kosovo is making in key areas and it is damning of where your country is in terms of the rule of law, human rights, economic freedoms. i don't know if you have read the report but if you have, then your country is never going to develop a close relationship with the eu unless you fundamentally change. of course we want to change. we want to progress and we will do that and we need the eu help. i believe the eu values will be home—grown in western balkans, and particularly in my country, but they cannot be self—made. we need help from the outside and i think we will get that. but the progress report of this year mentions for the first six months of previous governments

and six months of our government, it takes an average of evaluation but again, it also marks certain progresses that we did. in western balkan six, kosovo is the top country regarding the extent of vaccination of the population. we have managed to administer 1.6 million doses and we have of all the population who are over 16 years old, it is 55% with two doses and 64% with one dose. we are doing much better than before and the eu knows this as well. i'm putting myself in the position of a young man in their early 20s. they look at your unemployment rate for young people which is nearly 50%. they look at the fact that they can have a much better life if they can make it to croatia and still

betterfor some of them, make it into the eu to germany. you have a brain drain of young talent. your country, as i said before, is stuck and i'm not sure you're offering your people any way out of the economic and the corruption crisis that you are in. i tried to explain that we have increased tax revenues by one third without changing tax policy, fiscal policy. and the people you have mentioned who are unemployed youth, they voted for us. that is why i am in power because they are dissatisfied. but that does not mean that they are depressed, they are just dissatisfied and they've got the government that they always wanted and we are only seven months in office now, not seven years, seven months. and we are doing well. we took kosova with 3.1% negative growth of gdp and we would

have a double digit growth for the first time in kosovo and it is an unprecedented feat in the balkans. you have to acknowledge this is that people are optimistic and hopeful,. symbols are important and one key symbol that kosovo is prepared to play when the national community court is whether or not you're well able to accept the special court that was set up in the hague to find suspects suspected of committed war crimes in the late 1990s, specifically people who were members of the kosovo liberation army which you were associated with in the late 1990s. the former president currently faces charges and you have suggested that you do not accept the legitimacy of this court where as your own president, who we have had on hardtalk, she clearly does accept the legitimacy of that

court, so, you're here is your chance right now to say you have changed your mind and you do accept the special court and the hague. many think that i have found of legacy of my predecessor, i do not like. but there is nothing i can do about it. so, specialist chambers, they are not very transparent justice systems and they have not shown that they are multiethnic. so, they have been taking only kla leaders who are albanians and as if no one who did war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide. and time will show that truth in kosovo deserves justice.

until now, with specialist chambers, we haven't seen the right pace to satisfy the victims in kosovo. five years ago, big mistakes were done and i have to live with them, unfortunately. i don't know if you've answered my question, it was quite a simple one. your president said to me that we did not say we were going to acceptjust a part of the international legal process, we clearly do believe in international justice. i am inviting you to make the same commitment. will you accept the legitimacy of the special court in the hague, particularly when it comes to the trial of former president. i think i already answered, but i can repeat my answer and that is that we respect internationaljustice, kosovo had the united nations intellects, we have ictui and the special court was not necessary but it is here now. but they are not asking for my cooperation, so i give them my support,

to be honest. because it is a very non—transparent court with one leg in kosovo and the other leg in hague. so, it is much more complex situation with this latest court. i believe that we need normal courts that are going to try all the war and peace crimes in spite of the ethnicity of the perpetrators and not as it has been done with specialist court. let's hope that this can be corrected and rectified in the near future. i need to ask you a very basic question and is based upon the flag. right behind you, i can see the flags, the official state flag of kosovo, but personally, it seems you prefer to be photographed with the albanian flag behind you and that is because you're open when it comes to albania being one nation divided across two states and you believe

the destiny of kosovo is to be integrated into albania. how can you be the leader of your own state and yet telling the people that you don't believe in the future of your state? to outsiders, that seems incredible. i believe in the republic of kosovo and here to serve republic of kosovo, we declare independence over 30 years ago, we did not do that in contrast to albania, but as an expression of liberation from serbia and liberation from serbia made possible from us as albanians to restore our dignity and our civic and human rights. now, towards kosovo, i am a citizen of the republic. historically, whenever serbia attacked kosovo, then albanians always united because serbia was a small imperialistic power and very

closely linked with moscow and in our region, it was the most powerful one in the last century and a half. that is why, albanian identity is also very strong. prime minister, we are almost out of time, we cannot go through too much history, ijust need a simple answer from you. are you still arguing that the constitution needs to be changed and that people of kosovo need to have a referendum on whether or not to be integrated with albania? is that your vision for the future of kosovo? i consider unfair injustice and there is no possibility to have referendum. and that referendum would be an expression of the freedom of the people. but now, this time, here, what i am, i have been elected forjobs and justice and this is what i will be doing in the many years to come. independence of kosovo is not

against serbs and independence of kosovo is independence from serbia and not from albania. throughout your political career, you've been seen as something of a firebrand, a guy who was prepared to take direct action, even to let off tear gas in the parliamentary chamber, some worry that you are a force for instability in the balkans. what is your message to the people who fear that you could bring great damage to your country in the region? 50.28% voted for us in the last elections and three top candidates will enlist now are chairing institutions of our republic. political stability has never been higher precisely with a political activist like me becoming prime minister of our independent republic. prime minister albin kurti. i thank you very much for being on hardtalk. thank you.

hello. after a warm and wet october the stormy final weekend has a different flavour to our weather now that we are into november. low pressure is moving away, around and there are still showers but overall it is looking drier. now with a developing northerly breeze coming into the uk and it's chilly now, but it is turning colder still in the next couple of days. here's what's on the agenda for the rest of the week. we've established as low pressure moves away, drier, the air around it turning colder. some sunny spells, yes, a chance of showers mainly coastal areas. 0vernight fog and frost,

both of those in some spots as tuesday begins, especially across parts of england where the coldest areas here getting close to freezing at the day begins. showers from the word go in northern scotland, and some of these can be heavy maybe with hail and thunder. and some will push further south across scotland during the day and increasing a chance of catching a shower in northern ireland across parts of wales for the western side of england. much of central and eastern england will state largely dry. many places will see sunny spells and temperatures across the uk nine to 12 celsius. the wind continuing to ease. and with those light winds overnight and into wednesday that's a recipe for some mist and fog patches, especially across parts of england and wales. and again a recipe for seeing temperatures close to freezing, especially in the countryside for a touch of frost as wednesday starts. so on wednesday, then, again many places going to stay dry. you can see the showers around to begin with and mainly affecting coastal areas. if you running through northern ireland, some into northern scotland. this patch along the north sea coast mayjust push further inland across england during the day with that wind direction.

and a colderfeeling day on wednesday with more places topping out in just single figures for the top temperature. as we go from wednesday to thursday, a high—pressure trying to nudge in from the west and with that wind direction also killing off many of the showers across western parts of the uk. we will continue to see them especially along some north sea coast on thursday. a stronger northerly breeze, more of the wind—chill around on thursday. and there is a change developing in northwest scotland, thicker clouds and some outbreaks of rain starting to move in. a weather system that will bring some rain to parts of scotland, and northern ireland going into saturday and then pushing a little bit further south as the weekend goes on. and that's your latest forecast for the week ahead.

this is bbc news — i'm sally bundock — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a huge breakthrough at the climate summit — as world leaders promise to end deforestation by 2030 — a pledge welcomed by the united nations. it's absolutely a dream come true. we're so excited, it is just such an accomplishment. it is a game changer and i think people don't realise that without this, without stopping deforestation and the world's forest, we cannot avert catastrophic climate change. president biden apologises for his predecessor donald trump, who pulled the us out of the paris climate accords, saying he wants the us to lead by example. the french president delays

retaliatory measures against the uk over post—brexit fishing rights —