With regard to democratic resilience and the fading of the democratization agenda in the U.S. and other places, my view is that Kosovo, for a long time, was governed and administered by the international community. It did not really have a chance to demonstrate democratic resilience. Only now, perhaps in the last five or six years, has it operated on all aspects of governance without micro-interference. In that regard, I think it's doing well. It is holding regular elections, perhaps too many, but certainly all of them are assessed by the European monitors as democratic, fair and inclusive, including the one that happened this weekend.
Kosovo is a really good example in demonstrating that capacity, even under the current conditions. At the moment, the U.S. has removed democracy promotion, rule of law and anticorruption measures from their foreign policy priorities. Kosovo is realigning its attention to the European Union and other transatlantic partners and collaborations. In that sense, the short-term effects are not negative, but my fear is that as the U.S. and perhaps.... I hope that in the EU, we don't see an authoritarian turn. As long as the EU, Canada and other transatlantic allies remain within the remit of the liberal international order, Kosovo could retain its democratic character.
My fear in the long term is that if there is an authoritarian turn overall in the world, it will be a big challenge for Kosovo, because it's a small state and it will have to align with allies. If those allies no longer promote democracy and democratic values, it will be a challenge to adapt and survive in that new order.