On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted its Enlargement Package and progress reports for countries seeking membership in the European Union. The reports on Kosovo and Serbia were among the issues given particular attention.
Presenting the report on Kosovo to the European Parliament, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said institutional deadlock and the political crisis had hindered the implementation of EU-related reforms during the reporting period.
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She noted that Kosovo had recently accelerated implementation of its reform agenda. Stronger institutional stability could pave the way for the country to make progress, she said.
“During the reporting period, the institutional deadlock affected the implementation of reforms linked to the European Union. However, Kosovo has recently stepped up work on its reform agenda. The EU has welcomed the election of the new president, and we hope renewed institutional stability will give Kosovo an opportunity to move forward,” Kos said.
Proposed amendments to the law on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, known as the Special Court, were also discussed. Kos warned that changes to the law could become an obstacle to European integration and said the EU was discussing the matter with the Kosovo government. She stressed that she expected Kosovo to fulfil its obligations.
The possibility of Kosovo gaining EU candidate status was also discussed at the press conference.
According to Kos, progress first requires the agreement of all 27 member states, which must ask the European Commission to prepare an opinion on Kosovo’s membership application.
The Commission is ready to prepare the opinion, she said, but Kosovo needs stable institutions and progress on reforms to win the support of member states.
The progress reports on Kosovo and Serbia also call for the fulfilment of obligations arising from the dialogue on normalising relations between the two countries.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas spoke about continuing the dialogue and the possibility of a high-level meeting between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia.
Kallas said she had met with both sides and that the leaders had expressed willingness to sit down together with her.
She said preparations for the meeting had begun and that the EU’s special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue was also assisting the process.
However, according to recent developments, the next high-level meeting is expected to take place only after a new government is formed in Belgrade.
