EP Rapporteur for Kosovo, Terras blames the European Council and member states for not lifting measures against Kosovo

The rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Riho Terras, blames the European Council and member states for the delay in lifting the measures against Kosovo. Although he describes these measures as unfair, he cannot say when they might be lifted.

It has been almost two years since the European Union imposed measures on Kosovo – which, despite calls at home and abroad, continue to be lifted. The country is suffering the consequences, while EU countries are unable to find a common language for their removal.

While senior Kosovar leaders, Vjosa Osmani and Albin Kurti, in every meeting with high-ranking personalities coming from EU member states, demand that these measures be lifted once and for all, recently the rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament has also compiled a report requesting exactly the same thing.

The former Estonian soldier who was appointed rapporteur for Kosovo in November 2024, Riho Terras, says that the delay in lifting the measures should be blamed solely on "the European Council and the member states, which must create a consensus on their lifting."

Terras does not mention names of countries that are against lifting the measures, but according to him, they are "the usual names."

"The countries that are against lifting the measures are the usual ones. We need to bring the bigger ones to our side, the ones that talk about gradually lifting [the measures], but I wouldn't want to name them and shame them. I believe that even the bad boy of Europe will follow, if the big ones agree," he added in an interview with KALLXO.com.

Terras underlined that the European Parliament and the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs have a very strong majority of members against the measures imposed on Kosovo, but they do not have the power to lift them.

"We call for the immediate lifting of EU measures against Kosovo, which are no longer reasonable and are in contradiction with Kosovo's proven commitment to European values ​​and its alignment with EU policies," writes in the document.

Terras said it is unfair that measures have been imposed on Kosovo, but he cannot say when they might be lifted.

"But I sincerely hope that there will be progress in the foreseeable future," he said.

However, the MEP emphasizes that lifting the EU measures is much more difficult. Although, according to him, the former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, assessed that Kosovo has met the requirements formulated by the EU, in June 2023, and recommended lifting the measures, such a thing is only in the hands of the Council.

"Now this is on the Council's table - all 27 EU states have to agree, which is obviously a challenge. Parliament's position is and has been very clear from the beginning - the measures are unnecessary and unfair," he said.

In June 2024, Chief Diplomat Borrell submitted to EU member states the Report on the measures imposed on Kosovo, in which an assessment was made for the lifting of the measures.

Despite the fact that Kosovo is called upon every day to follow the right path towards EU integration, Terras says that on the contrary, the measures are an obstacle on this path.

"Therefore, it is very important that they are removed as soon as possible, because if the EU expects reforms from Kosovo, we must also give our part," he says.

Terras says that what he believes they can do as MEPs is put positive pressure on non-recognizing states and show good progress towards the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

Traditionally, in the last 20 years, the rapporteur for Kosovo has been from the Green Group.

Otherwise, this time after the Elections in the European institutions, Terras was designated for Kosovo even though he belongs to the European People's Party Group (PPE Group). The rapporteur for Serbia in the European Parliament is the Social Democratic MEP from Croatia, Tonino Picula.

However, he expresses confidence that if they can see the revival of the Dialogue and a positive path forward, the five member states that do not recognize Kosovo will have “stronger motivation to reconsider their position.”

The five EU member states that do not recognize Kosovo's statehood are: Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Romania. The same, but not only, have also hindered Kosovo on its path towards membership in the Council of Europe.

In Terra's draft report, it was also requested that countries that have not recognized Kosovo do so without further delay.

The measures against Kosovo were imposed in June 2023 in response to the escalation of the security situation in northern Kosovo, when new mayors began their work in northern municipalities, following elections that were boycotted by local Serbs.

Among the EU measures is the temporary suspension of the work of the Stabilization and Association Agreement bodies.

Kosovo also does not receive invitations to high-level events and bilateral visits have been suspended, except for those focused on addressing the crisis in northern Kosovo within the framework of the EU-facilitated Dialogue.

Other measures include the suspension of the programming of funds for Kosovo, under IPA 2024 (Pre-Accession Funds).

The lifting of the measures was recently requested by Albin Kurti and Vjosa Osmani during the visit of the new EU envoy for the Kosovo Dialogue, Peter Sorensen.

The country's Prime Minister, Vjosa Osmani, called for the lifting of the measures imposed by the EU, emphasizing their negative impact on the lives of Kosovo citizens, without distinction, as well as damaging the dialogue process itself by making it unbalanced.

"Kosovo has already proven itself as a constructive party in the dialogue, committed to peace, democracy and the rule of law, therefore the EU's continued unjust measures against our country are harming not only our citizens, but also the necessary balance in the dialogue," she said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive, Albin Kurti, has called these measures contradictory.

"It is an unhealthy contradiction for the EU, its fundamental values ​​and the reforms undertaken by the Government of Kosovo with great support from the citizens, that in the same period when the country is marking the greatest democratic rise, even according to international indices, it is simultaneously under restrictive EU measures," he told Sorensen. /Kallxo.com/