Kosovo’s First Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi expressed his hope on Tuesday 28 February that his country, which applied for EU membership on 15 December 2022, would obtain candidate status this year.
“We want to achieve candidate status by the end of the year. It may be a difficult goal, but we are fully committed to achieving it”, he promised at a hearing in the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. He believes “it is essential for the development and prosperity of Kosovo and the Western Balkans and, above all, for the political security and stability” of the country.
The minister highlighted the progress made by his country in recent years, citing the areas of the rule of law, the fight against crime and corruption and media freedom.
“A high-quality democracy has led to macroeconomic progress. Our growth was 10.7%”, he highlighted, citing among other things the increase in budgetary revenues and exports. Mr Bislimi said that last year Kosovo had aligned its foreign policy 60% with that of the EU.
The minister promised that his country was ready to step up its efforts to move even closer to the EU. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)