At the EU-Western Balkans Summit, Albulena Haxhiu presses Prague to champion Kosovo’s bid for formal candidate status while offering green-energy and infrastructure partnerships.
In a vital push to break the institutional stagnation surrounding Kosovo’s European integration path, Acting President Albulena Haxhiu held a high-level bilateral meeting with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The session took place on Friday, June 5, 2026, on the sidelines of the ongoing EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat, Montenegro.
According to an official statement released by the Presidency, Haxhiu’s primary objective was securing Prague’s diplomatic weight to convince Brussels to issue the much-anticipated European Commission Questionnaire—the definitive technical roadmap required to transition Kosovo from an applicant to an official EU candidate state.
The Diplomatic Target: Overcoming the Questionnaire Gate
Kosovo formally submitted its application for EU membership in late 2022, but its progression has faced procedural delays in Brussels. By targeting the Czech Republic, Haxhiu is looking to leverage a key central European ally that has historically favored Western Balkan enlargement.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Kosovo's Accession Strategy: The Phased Objectives │
├───────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┤
│ IMMEDIATE TACTICAL GOAL │ STRATEGIC ENDGAME │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│ • Secure the delivery of the │ • Achieve formal designation as an │
│ European Commission Questionnaire.│ official EU Candidate Country. │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│ • Require member state backing to │ • Lock in access to multi-tier │
│ bypass lingering veto blockades.│ pre-accession development funds. │
└───────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘
Haxhiu praised the recent upgrading of bilateral diplomatic ties to the level of full extraordinary ambassadors, framing it as a concrete indicator of the deepening mutual trust between Pristina and Prague.
Expanding the Economic and Security Horizon
Beyond the structural mechanics of EU enlargement, the discussion looked at deep trade adjustments, matching the Franco-German push for localized Western Balkan single-market integration. Haxhiu pitched Kosovo as an agile destination for diversifying Czech investments across several high-value sectors:
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Czech-Kosovo Economic Growth Clusters │
└───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
│
┌──────────────┬───────────────┼───────────────┬──────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
[Innovation] [Energy] [Green Tech] [Health] [Infrastructure]
& Digitalization & Advanced Industry
Security Guarantees Appreciated:
Haxhiu concluded the summit meeting by conveying Kosovo’s formal gratitude for the Czech Republic’s continued military contributions to the NATO-led KFOR mission.
She emphasized that Prague’s active boots on the ground remain an indispensable stabilizer for maintaining regional peace and security, preventing northern border flashpoints from boiling over into wider sub-regional conflicts.
