Prime Minister Albin Kurti has requested that Kosovo be given the status of a candidate country for membership in the European Union and that membership negotiations be opened. The statement was made in Budva, on the eve of the Berlin Process Summit, where he asked for the support of European leaders for Kosovo’s advancement on the integration path. Kurti stated that Kosovo fulfills the democratic and institutional criteria to move to a new phase of the European integration process, mentioning democratic functionality, institutional stability and economic growth.
“Kosovo is a liberal and equal society. We have democratic functionality, we have institutional stability, we have economic growth. Now is the time for our country to get candidate status and open negotiations for joining the EU. For this, I will call today and every day against all EU leaders to ask for the opinion of the European Commission regarding this issue,” Kurti declared before the media.
During his statement, the Prime Minister of Kosovo also focused on the issue of justice for the crimes committed during the war and the need to clarify the fate of missing persons. Kurti requested that the pledges of the London Summit of 2018 be recalled, stressing that there are still more than 1,500 missing persons in Kosovo.
He also mentioned the exhumation of 23 bodies in the municipality of Zubin Potok, which, according to him, belong to Albanians killed by Serbian forces in April 1999.
“I hope that we can return the pledges that were made at the London Summit in 2018 in terms of justice for crimes committed during the war, as well as for the discovery of missing persons. There are over 1,500 missing persons in my country. Recently, in the northern municipality of Zubin Potok, we exhumed 23 bodies, bodies of Albanians who were killed by Serbian forces in April 1999”. said Kurti.
The Kosovar Prime Minister was optimistic about the country’s future, reaffirming Kosovo’s commitment to the values of the European Union, the rule of law and the creation of new opportunities for employment, especially for young people. He also stressed the importance of continuing European cooperation and standing against the Kremlin’s influence in the region.
