Russian comedians had also tried to fool former President Hashim Thaçi, but he had found out.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was the victim of a video call from two Russian comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, shortly after the February 9 parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

The two comedians published a video of their conversation with Kurti on the Rumble platform, where they were seen speaking on behalf of the President of Latvia, Edgar Rinkevics.

Kosovo Government Spokesperson, Përparim Kryeziu, confirmed the incident through a post on X, saying that it happened on February 11, just two days after the elections.

He justified the prime minister's fall victim to fraud by saying that during that time, Kurti was receiving numerous congratulatory calls, after his party, the Vetevendosje Movement, came first in the elections with around 42 percent of the vote.

"Due to limited time, it has not always been possible to conduct in-depth verifications of every call," Kryeziu said.

Read too Kurti is not the only one – these are the stories of some world-renowned names who 'fell into the trap' of two Russian comedians

It's not the first time these comedians have tried to fool Balkan leaders.

A similar attempt was made against former President Hashim Thaçi, but he said his cabinet had been careful and had prevented the fraud.

"The fraudsters have also claimed to infiltrate my office, but there has been maximum caution from the institutions here, because I cannot speak to someone without being informed in advance about the topics they may discuss and then without both cabinets of the president of Kosovo being connected with the authority they wish to speak to."

"This was their attempt to talk to me as president of Kosovo seven or eight months ago. I thank the cabinet for being careful and preventing this possibility of direct communication between these two fraudsters on behalf of former president Petro Poroshenko," Thaçi declared at the time.

Vovan and Lexus are known for their calls to world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and well-known figures such as Elton John and Prince Harry.

The full conversation of Prime Minister Albin Kurti with the two Russian comedians

Comedians: Let me congratulate you on your victory, on your greatest victory.

Albin Kurti: Thank you very much for the congratulations. There has been this hybrid war against our government since early on. And it mainly comes from Serbia and Russia, but also from some of their elements inside Kosovo. So, hybrid war, disinformation and that. The second was the irrational promises of the opposition, who were flirting with a hybrid war. And the third is some oligarchs in our country, especially one of them, who has a television station and so on.

Comedians: What do you think about the recent elections? I've heard what's happening with USAID and I know what's happening with Special Ambassador Grenell.

Albin Kurti: All these four years against me. He was instrumental in overthrowing my government for the first time in 2020. My government only fell during the pandemic. And now he has been very connected to the opposition. He has received a big first-class award in Belgrade as a diplomat. So it is not right to receive that kind of award from an authoritarian country and pretend to be neutral. He has a new job now. His job is like the Kennedy Institution, leading a Kennedy Institution in the US, where he has to deal with values, American values. I think President Trump would put him against LGBTIQ, even though he himself is gay. So Mr. Grenell, he himself is gay.

Comedians: Did you know that I've come out as gay?

Albin Kurti: No, I don't know, I'm sorry I didn't know that. It was a shock to all of us, the position he was given.

Albin Kurti: For me, the main goal is to isolate Russia.

Albin Kurti: Well, I completely agree, because we will not have peace in Europe, none of us, with expansionist, imperialist Russia.

Albin Kurti: This is forbidden. And we in the Balkans are fragile. Moldova is fragile, because we in the Balkans are not yet part of NATO and we want to become part of NATO as soon as possible. But there are these four non-recognizers within NATO. Spain, Romania, Slovakia and Greece.

Comedians: But you know there are some problems with Slovakia and with Spitzo and other people in Romania?

Albin Kurti: Yes, yes, it's true. And they're becoming these kind of right-wing populist countries because of so many hybrid wars and so much disinformation, you know.

Albin Kurti: Barry, I am very worried. I hope things will improve with the new European Commission. I think we are wasting a lot of time by not uniting more strongly and more actively against the Kremlin.

Albin Kurti: I think that Ukraine should have been provided with more equipment, military equipment, to fight and to win. I think that in these three years, you know, more could have been done, and more can be done. Ukraine was the war, the battle where the supremacy of the Western democratic military force had to be demonstrated, I believe you know.

Albin Kurti: So, I remember in the late 80s the Taliban in Afghanistan were getting weapons from the US to drive out the Soviet Union, you know. So the Taliban were also getting a lot of equipment until they drove out the Soviet Union.

Albin Kurti: And now Ukraine must expel the Russian Federation.

Comedians: So you're comparing Ukraine and the Taliban, right?

Albin Kurti: No, no. No, no, I'm not comparing the two. I'm just saying that it's very important to have a sophisticated weapon against Russia. And I'm just saying that even the terrible militant organization of the Taliban, you know, the criminal organization, even they, four decades ago, were taking American equipment and weapons against the Soviet Union. Rightly so, you know, if the US wanted to get rid of the Soviet Union, the US helped liberate Afghanistan.

Albin Kurti: Even though those weapons ended up in the wrong hands… In Ukraine, there is a democratic government. They should be provided with everything they need and demand.

Albin Kurti: This is what I am saying. We are buying weapons from the US, from the UK, from Croatia, from Turkey and we will build an ammunition factory in Kosovo. This is what we are going to do to produce ammunition. We are buying a lot, but we want to produce as well. So, preparing for a global war? Preparing to join NATO to strengthen our army and to make our adversary, Serbia, think twice before attacking us again. Because they have attacked us several times in the last century.

Albin Kurti: We need to strengthen ourselves.

Comedians: The question that was on my list is the problem with the Iber-Lepenac gas pipeline.

Albin Kurti: Yes, they blew it up, but we repaired it.

Comedians: But who was behind it?

Albin Kurti: I think it was Serbia, maybe even Russia, but Serbia for sure.

Comedians: Are you sure?

Albin Kurti: Yes. There are many elements that indicate that Radojicic's group is behind.

Comedians: Oh, really?

Albin Kurti: Yes.

Comedians: What do you think about USAID support? Trump will close this program.

Albin Kurti: Well, USAID has helped us a lot, 25 years of strong and close cooperation, but now I don't know.

Comedians: New administration, new attitudes?

Albin Kurti: It is very important to lift these measures against Kosovo and also help us enter the Council of Europe and NATO. To become a member of the EU, it will take time, but I think the Council of Europe and NATO can be done much, much faster. And we have already passed to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Comedians: What do you think about the protests in Belgrade?

Albin Kurti: I think many people from Western countries are ready to remove Vučić from his seat.

Comedians: Yes, but the democratic opposition in Serbia in the form of this massive student movement is not receiving sufficient support from the EU and the US.

Albin Kurti: They should support them more.

Comedians: So, what is your proposal? How to solve this equation?

Albin Kurti: The proposal is to remove the regime in Serbia that is pro-Russian and for Serbia to recognize Kosovo. Serbia should recognize Kosovo. But there is not enough pressure on Belgrade from the West for this.

Albin Kurti: Their de facto leader, their de facto president is Milan Radojicic, who is a criminal. And he killed our police sergeant.

Comedians: But if he's a criminal, you can arrest him.

Albin Kurti: He is in Serbia. I cannot arrest him in Serbia. We had two big problems.

Albin Kurti: One is Serbia's aggressive policy. And on the other hand, we have the problems we have had with corruption. Well, in Brussels, we need these measures against Kosovo to be lifted. You know that we have these measures. /Telegrafi/