Today it has been two years since Kosovo applied for membership in the European Union. Although the European Union has accepted Kosovo's application since December 15, 2022, it has not yet reviewed it.
In the Government of Kosovo, they expect positive movements in obtaining the status of a candidate country from the new leadership of the European Union and the future presidency of Poland from January 2025. However, in the state of France, they say that some EU countries are not convinced that now is the right moment to give the green light to Kosovo.
According to the EU's key country, Kosovo must fulfill some political conditions, such as the implementation of the agreements reached within the dialogue with Serbia.
Experts of the European integration processes are also skeptical that Kosovo will be granted the status of a candidate country for EU membership.
Klisman Kadiu, adviser to the deputy prime minister Besnik Bislimi, tells KosovaPress that Kosovo deserves to receive the status of a candidate country, and according to him, they will prove this by accepting the completed questionnaire according to the criteria and deadlines set by the European Union.
He announced that Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi has already started consultations with the Polish presidency, which will assume the presidency of the EU Council, for the first six months of 2025.
"Kosovo is ready for this, and stands with high will and readiness to demonstrate the institutional level of preparation whenever the European Union is ready to open this path to the Republic of Kosovo. We have also demonstrated this through the Growth Plan and the massive work carried out in this process, where we were congratulated by the European Union for the level of preparation. We await the receipt of the questionnaire and the evaluation based on meritocracy for the process."
Kosovo deserves to receive the status of a candidate country, and we will prove this by accepting the completed questionnaire according to the criteria and deadlines set by the European Union. We remain fully committed to arguing the importance of this step and the level of preparation of Kosovo, therefore we expect concrete steps with the arrival of the new constellation in the composition of the institutions in the European Union, and the future presidency of Poland from January. Consultations with the Presidency of Poland started earlier, especially during the last visit of Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi to Warsaw", he says in an answer to KosovaPress.
However, the ambassador of France in Kosovo, Olivier Guerot, in an interview for KosovaPress, said that Kosovo should engage more in the dialogue with Serbia to convince the EU member countries that now is the right moment to Kosovo's application is reviewed.
According to him, one of the most important political conditions is for Kosovo to implement the Brussels agreement and the Ohrid annex, reached with Serbia in 2023.
"I think some EU members are not entirely convinced that it is appropriate at the moment. Here I think we return to the issue of implementing the Ohrid [annex] or the February 27 agreement to convince all member countries that it is the right moment. We support that Kosovo eventually becomes a member of the EU, as well as other countries in the region. We clearly see the path towards European integration, we wish that some conditions are met, one of the most important conditions is this political condition that Kosovo be fully engaged in the dialogue and in the implementation of the agreements reached during the dialogue. For other issues such as the readiness for internal reforms, the readiness of the economy, the readiness of the institutions, we see a progress made by the government of Kosovo", he said.
On the other hand, the political analyst, Albinot Maloku, says that the delay in examining Kosovo's application for membership in the EU is happening because the latter does not have a clear vision for Kosovo's European path.
"Kosovo is not guilty in this process, but neither is the EU, which does not have a concrete vision of how to approach the countries of the Western Balkans, including Kosovo, which it has placed under sanctions as a result of the government. What is the possibility that Kosovo will win in this process, I consider that the will is Kosovo's, but the fault falls on the EU for not having a clear vision", he declares.
Kosovo has submitted the application for obtaining the status of a candidate country for EU membership on December 15, 2022, when the presidency of the EU Council was led by the Czech Republic.
Hungary currently holds the presidency of the European Union. However, from January 1, 2025, Poland will receive it./kp/
