Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, speaking to the media after the Bërdo-Brijuni Summit on Monday in Durrës, expressed support for Albania’s progress toward European Union membership and addressed the ongoing EU sanctions against Kosovo.
Osmani emphasized that during the summit, she sought support from Slovenia and Croatia, two EU member states, to amplify Kosovo’s voice within European institutions. She criticized the EU sanctions, noting that no member state has provided clear justification for keeping them in place despite Kosovo fulfilling the conditions of the Bratislava Agreement and submitting its EU membership application in 2022.
“… Kosovo remains under EU sanctions, even though all conditions have been met. The European Commission has not yet been mandated to address Kosovo’s candidate status due to political considerations by certain member states. This shows that the process is not merit-based; political developments often influence whether a state receives support. If the process were truly merit-based, Kosovo – as the leading reformer in the region – would be much closer to EU membership,” Osmani stated.
The president also criticized Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, accusing him of making offensive remarks and attempting to disrupt the summit.
“Vučić approached the summit with arrogance and tried to interfere with the meeting. However, we succeeded in approving the Joint Declaration unanimously. For any propaganda Vučić aimed to present, Kosovo had strong arguments supported by international law. We stand for regional cooperation and will protect our national interest, integrity, and sovereignty,” Osmani said.
Vučić, for his part, acknowledged disagreements with Osmani during the summit but emphasized that the European path remains a strategic route for the region.
“There are no countries here, only names. This is a good legacy of the process. I spoke about a kind of hypocrisy, double standards, where each of us tries to gain something at the expense of someone else. We have limited common approaches to resolving issues in the Western Balkans,” Vučić said.
