American analyst and professor Edward Joseph views NATO membership as one of the key paths to resolving longstanding issues in the Western Balkans between Kosovo and Serbia, while opening new strategic horizons for Kosovo.
According to Joseph, if former U.S. President Donald Trump were to offer Kosovo a clear and secure path toward NATO membership in exchange for the establishment of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities, any Prime Minister of Kosovo would accept such an arrangement.
In an interview with Civil Today, Joseph said that Trump could invite Kosovo and Serbia to the White House to sign an agreement committing both sides to NATO as a strategic objective.
“President Trump could invite the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo, as he did during his first administration in Washington, to sign an agreement. In that agreement, both parties would formally commit to NATO as a strategic goal,” the American professor said.
Joseph explained his idea of keeping relations between Kosovo and Serbia stable until both countries join NATO—a moment when mutual recognition would become unavoidable. As a means toward this interim stability, he cited the establishment of the Association as something Serbia would receive in return.
“The key issue is that Vučić would get something concrete. He would receive a statute, signed by the EU, establishing the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities in Kosovo—something Serbia, the EU, and the United States have all demanded. He would not be required to formally recognize Kosovo at that stage.
Recognition would become inevitable later, once both countries are ready to join NATO, because allies must recognize one another. But by then, the context would be completely different: dramatically reduced tensions and a fundamentally transformed strategic orientation for Serbia,” Joseph emphasized.
Joseph added that such a pathway would be extremely difficult for any Serbian leader to reject.
He further stressed that if Trump were to offer Kosovo a clear path to NATO conditioned on implementing the Association, any Prime Minister of Kosovo would agree.
“If President Trump offers Kosovo a clear path toward NATO, conditioned on implementing the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities and the full integration of Kosovo Serbs as equal citizens, any Prime Minister of Kosovo would sign that statute,” he said.
According to Joseph, this would also unlock Kosovo’s recognition by the five EU member states that have not yet recognized it. He believes Greece would move first, triggering a broader shift.
“The United States would then address the remaining non-recognizing countries. Greece would recognize Kosovo as soon as the statute is signed, and that would fundamentally change the dynamics for Romania, Slovakia, and Spain,” Joseph said.
Once Kosovo has a path toward NATO—even before full membership—the game is essentially over, Joseph argued. Serbia’s strategy of non-recognition, diplomatic obstruction, and reliance on Russia and China at the UN Security Council would become meaningless.
“NATO membership matters far more to Kosovo than UN membership. Ask Ukrainians: would they rather be members of the UN or NATO? The answer is clear—NATO.
At that point, Serbia would watch Montenegro move forward toward the EU and Kosovo advance toward NATO, while Serbia remains stuck. That would be extremely difficult to sustain politically.
So yes, this proposal is far more realistic than many people think,” Joseph concluded.
