European Union Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, briefly mentioned Kosovo while speaking before members of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels on Tuesday, reports RFE.
She stated that EU enlargement today differs from how it was four or five years ago, emphasizing a “new positive moment” within the EU.
“For the first time in the last ten years, we have the opportunity to bring one, two, or three new countries into the EU during our mandate. However, I have told our partners in recent weeks that there will be no concessions when it comes to fundamental criteria and EU values,” she said.
When asked by a member of the European Parliament about her expectations for Kosovo’s upcoming elections, Kos responded by saying that while she did not expect progress before the elections, she anticipates movement soon after.
“Regarding Kosovo… I didn’t mention Kosovo. There will be elections. I do not expect that we will be able to move forward before the elections, but soon after the elections, we must move forward. Because we cannot talk about the Western Balkans region without addressing the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina or separately about what Kosovo is doing and what Serbia is doing,” said Kos.
She also expressed optimism for positive developments in the enlargement process this year, expecting greater progress than in the past decade.
“We may see progress during the Polish Presidency beyond what we have seen in the last ten years. We could have up to ten intergovernmental conferences,” she emphasized.
Kos also announced plans to visit Montenegro and Albania, which she views as the most advanced in the enlargement process.
“Montenegro aims to conclude negotiations by 2026, and Albania by 2027. We will support them, but it requires a lot of work. The merit-based process principle must apply to both candidate countries and EU member states. When candidates meet the criteria, EU countries must enable progress,” declared Kos.
After the February 9 elections in Kosovo, EU’s new foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, is expected to conduct her first tour in the Western Balkans region.
On the other hand, EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak, warned that this week’s focus in Brussels will be on the first meeting of the Joint Commission for Missing Persons from the Kosovo War.
The Joint Commission is part of the joint declaration on missing persons, which Kosovo and Serbia agreed to in 2023 as part of the dialogue for normalizing relations.
In the last Brussels meeting on December 17, Kosovo’s chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, and Serbia’s negotiator, Petar Petković, agreed on the full implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons.
