Kurti seeks support in Paris and Dublin for Kosovo’s integration and recognition by Serbia

Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, asked Ireland to support the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO. The request came on the second day of his diplomatic tour, which began in Paris with meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and the EU’s envoy for the dialogue, Peter Sorensen.

On Thursday, Kurti was welcomed in Dublin by Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the opening of the ninth European Political Community summit, attended by leaders from EU countries and other European states.

After the welcome, he described Ireland as a successful example of European integration. Kurti said that, before Kosovo joins the EU and NATO, it must obtain candidate country status and begin membership negotiations. He said he was counting on the Irish EU presidency, which runs until the end of the year, for support in this process.

Alongside the European Political Community summit, Dublin is also hosting an informal meeting of the European Council this week.

Kurti expressed gratitude to the Irish people, who sheltered more than a thousand Albanian refugees expelled from Kosovo in 1999. He also thanked the Irish soldiers and officers who have served in KFOR for more than two and a half decades.

He said the EU and NATO are essential to democracy, prosperity and security. He stressed the importance of meetings such as the one in Dublin while Russian aggression in Ukraine continues, including strikes on critical infrastructure and hybrid warfare. Kurti said the European Political Community gives leaders an opportunity to join forces.

A day earlier, on Wednesday, Kurti had been received by Macron at the Élysée Palace. On Tuesday evening, he had attended a dinner hosted by the French president for participants in the Paris Peace Forum.

After the meeting at the Élysée, Kurti wrote that France had been a strong ally of Kosovo since the war for liberation and independence and remained a close and important partner. He said he had stressed to Macron the importance of French support for candidate country status and the opening of EU membership negotiations.

Kurti also said he had praised Macron’s initiative to protect children from the risks of technology use. Kosovo joined the political declaration of the Children’s Summit at the Paris forum.

On the sidelines of the forum, the Kosovar prime minister also met the EU special representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Peter Sorensen. According to Kurti, they discussed Kosovo’s full institutional stability following the election of the president, the path to EU membership and the prospects for fully normalizing relations with Serbia, with mutual recognition at the heart of the conversation.

Sorensen described the meeting as a good exchange of views. He said that, following the formation of institutions in Pristina, the conversation focused on the next steps in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and on the aspects of normalization that affect people on the ground and the region.

During his visit to Paris, Kurti reiterated his expectation that Serbia’s new leadership recognize Kosovo as an independent state.