Zulfaj asks German Bundestag to help pave the way for Kosovo’s EU candidate status

Kosovo’s chief negotiator for the negotiations with the European Union, Jeton Zulfaj, held a meeting at the German Bundestag with Dr. Anton Hofreiter, Chairman of the Committee on EU Affairs and a deputy of Alliance 90/The Greens. Also present at the meeting were the committee’s deputy chairman, Johannes Schraps of the SPD, and member Peter Beyer of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. The Kosovar delegation also included Kosovo’s ambassador to Berlin, Faruk Ajeti.

During the talks, Zulfaj expressed the deep gratitude of Kosovo’s citizens for Germany’s continuous assistance. He recalled the decisive contribution Berlin made in the most critical phases of the country’s history, from liberation and post-war recovery to the journey towards independence, institutional building, and economic development.

The core of the discussion was Kosovo’s progress in the EU accession process. Zulfaj highlighted a major concern: nearly four years after submitting its application, Kosovo remains the only country in the region that has not yet received candidate status. He requested the Bundestag’s intervention to ensure that, this autumn, the Council of the European Union tasks the European Commission with drafting the Opinion on Kosovo’s application.

Describing Germany as one of Pristina’s most strategic allies, the chief negotiator underlined the particular weight its voice carries in EU enlargement policy. He called on German lawmakers to engage proactively, through their networks with parliamentarians of other member states and with European political families, to give impetus to Kosovo’s application.

Another item on the agenda was the democratic and economic progress marked by Kosovo, along with the reform agenda undertaken within the framework of its European path. Zulfaj reiterated the country’s absolute commitment to the fundamental values of the EU and Kosovo’s full alignment of its foreign policy with the bloc’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

At the conclusion of the visit, the chief negotiator expressed his thanks to the German deputies for the reception and for the unwavering support that Germany continuously offers Kosovo.