Kosovo marked 11 years on Monday since its Assembly ratified the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, a key milestone in the country’s path toward closer integration with the bloc.
On November 2, 2015, Kosovo’s Assembly approved the law enabling implementation of the agreement with 86 votes in favor. Ratification required the support of two-thirds of the Assembly’s 120 members.
The vote took place during a ceremonial parliamentary session attended by then-President Atifete Jahjaga and numerous ambassadors representing major industrialized countries.
The three opposition parties at the time — the Vetëvendosje Movement, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and NISMA — took part in the opening of the session but did not participate in the final vote.
Their representatives delivered speeches criticizing the government and what they described as shortcomings in the agreement before leaving the parliamentary chamber.
One of the distinctive features of the SAA was the way Kosovo was designated in the agreement: its name appeared with a footnote rather than being formally identified as the Republic of Kosovo, reflecting the differing positions among EU member states on Kosovo’s status.
The agreement established a contractual framework for relations between Kosovo and the EU, covering areas including political dialogue, trade, economic cooperation and the gradual alignment of Kosovo’s legislation with European standards.
