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Next Monday marks 12 years since Kosovo declared its fought-for independence from Serbia, and Kosovo’s teenage years begin with high hopes now that Albin Kurti has been elected Prime Minister.

Although a well-known face, Kurti represents a fresh start for Kosovo. Neither he nor his Vetevendosje party have ever held power at state level.

He was elected on an agenda that many in Serbia’s mainstream media have dubbed “nationalistic” and “populist.” But in the context of Kosovo’s recent history, this is not only wrong but demeaning to the voters who put his party in first place in the October 6 elections.

Kurti's “nationalism” must not be given a false equivalence with that of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. This only feeds the narrative Serbia desperately wants to take hold: that all are to be blame for what happened in the 1990s.