Kurti in New York: Kosovo should receive candidate country status without delay

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has appealed to the European Union to grant Kosovo candidate country status for membership without delay.

On Wednesday in New York, Kurti attended a lunch organized by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who also serves as Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas. Other Western Balkan leaders were also present at the meeting.

According to him, granting candidate status would be the EU’s response to “Kosovo’s loyalty to democratic values and its clear Euro-Atlantic strategic orientation,” as well as an incentive for further reforms and development.

Kurti has sharply criticized the fact that Kosovo’s application for EU membership, submitted in December 2022 in Prague, continues to remain without an official response.

“Keeping the application submitted in December 2022 in Prague in a drawer, while we are fully aligned with the EU’s foreign and security policy and have made significant progress in almost all areas, would be, besides an injustice to the Republic of Kosovo, an encouragement to destabilizing actors in the region and beyond,” Kurti wrote.

He stressed that Kosovo “should not and cannot remain a hostage” of Serbia, which he accused of protecting and praising people convicted of war crimes and genocide.

Kurti also criticized Serbia’s stance on war crimes and missing persons, declaring that Belgrade “denies and conceals crimes and refuses to cooperate in uncovering the truth about those forcibly disappeared.”

Kurti also accused Serbia of continuing rights violations and administrative ethnic cleansing against Albanians living in the Presevo Valley.