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The EC approves the enlargement package: Kosovo's path is influenced by the dialogue with Serbia

2023-11-08 13:46:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The EC approves the enlargement package: Kosovo's path is influenced by the

The European Commission recommended the opening of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, while also recommending the opening of talks with Moldova, once it meets the final conditions.

For Georgia, the EC added in a statement on November 8, it was recommended to be granted official candidate status, if it meets the remaining conditions set by the bloc.

The European Commission also recommended the opening of Bosnia and Herzegovina's membership negotiations with the EU, when the necessary degree of compliance with the criteria for membership is achieved. The Commission will report to the Council by March 2024 on any progress.

At the meeting of the college of 27 European commissioners on Wednesday, November 8, the enlargement package was approved, together with individual progress reports for all the countries involved in this process.

For the first time, progress reports were approved for ten states that are in the process. The reports were approved for the six countries of the Western Balkan region – Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro – and for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. Likewise, the Progress Report is still being drawn up for Turkey, a country that formally still has the status of a candidate country.

In the enlargement process, the European Commission makes assessments and gives recommendations, while the formal decisions are approved in the European Council by the leaders of the member countries who decide unanimously.

What was said about Kosovo?

Kosovo remains the only country that does not have a recommendation for candidate status from these ten countries.

European officials said on Wednesday that dialogue with Serbia is the way forward for Kosovo towards the EU.

At the press conference in Brussels, the president of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the implementation of the agreement for the creation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, could be a big step forward for Kosovo.

"I think it is important that Kosovo has a very clear goal regarding EU membership, so that we are clear about what we expect from Kosovo. We discussed, when I was in the region, the implementation of the draft statute for the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, and this implementation would be a big step forward. It is in the interest of Kosovo", she said.

Although Kosovo has applied for membership in the EU, the Commissioner for EU Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, said that the Council has not yet asked the commission to give an opinion on this.

"We are ready to give the opinion", he said.

"Our feeling is that for Kosovo, the road to the EU is coming through a successful dialogue. They should redouble their efforts to make the dialogue successful", added Varhelyi.

In the Progress Report for Kosovo, in most of the areas that are assessed, the European Commission has said that Kosovo has made "limited progress".

The report extensively mentions the tense security situation in the north of Kosovo - which is inhabited by a majority of Serbs - but also about the process of normalizing relations with Serbia through the dialogue mediated by the European Union.

In the report on Kosovo, expressions of regret are expressed that Kosovo and Serbia have not begun to fulfill their obligations from the dialogue without preconditions and other delays. Kosovo is invited separately to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. In the report, it is already requested that the Association be established based on the last draft status proposal for the Association, which was presented to the parties on October 21.

"Kosovo is expected to start the process that leads to the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority based on the European proposal that was presented to the parties on October 21, 2023. It asks Serbia to support this process and at the same time start fulfilling its obligations its key points from the Agreement [towards the normalization of relations]", the text states, adding that "formalities, including those related to approval, should not be an obstacle in the way of progress in implementation".

The agreement towards normalization, which was reached earlier in the year, requires the parties to develop normal relations of good neighborliness, to recognize each other's relevant documents and national symbols. For Kosovo, the agreement means de facto recognition by Serbia, while for the latter, its annex foresees that Kosovo form an Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.

Meanwhile, the draft statute presented on October 21 by the representatives of the EU, the United States, Italy, Germany and France, is said to be a modern European model. This document has not been made public, but the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has said that he has accepted it and that the same was written with care to the Constitution of Kosovo.

The report on Kosovo also mentions the removal of Serbs from Kosovo's institutions in November of last year and their boycott of the local elections in April of this year. These actions are described as "violations of Serbia's obligations arising from the dialogue and represent a step back by Serbia in fulfilling the obligations taken from the first agreement on the principles for the normalization of relations [of 2013] and represent a direct violation of the agreement on the justice of of 2015".

"Serbia is requested to encourage Kosovo Serbs to immediately return to institutions, while Kosovo to make this possible. Since November 2022, neither side has taken any steps in this direction," the report states.

After the increase of tensions in the north of Kosovo at the end of May, due to the opposition of the Serbs to the new Albanian mayors of the municipalities, Kosovo has drafted a legislation that enables the citizens to change the mayors of the municipalities through a petition.

The situation in the north of Kosovo worsened even more on September 24, after the attack on the Kosovo Police by a group of armed Serbs. The responsibility for the attack was taken by Millan Radoicic, the former vice-president of Lista Serbe - the main party of Serbs in Kosovo that enjoys the support of official Belgrade.

Kosovo blames Serbia for the attack, but Belgrade denies any involvement.

The recommendations and reports approved on November 8 in the European Commission will be on the agenda at the next meeting of the European Council, which will be held in December./ REL