On Thursday, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) presented their report on Kosovo’s progress towards integration into the European Union, following the Commission’s recent assessments of the pace of reform in the Western Balkans (see EUROPE 13557/5).
Like the Commission, the parliamentary report, for which the rapporteur is Riho Terras (EPP, Estonian), “notes the tangible progress in the areas of justice, freedom and security, the fight against organised crime and a functioning market economy; regrets that progress in the area of rule of law remains limited”.
MEPs are also in favour of “the immediate lifting of the EU measures against Kosovo, which are no longer justified and stand in contradiction to Kosovo’s demonstrated commitment” to the EU.
The fight against corruption also remains a key issue for MEPs, who believe that the country cannot make proper progress towards the EU without making major advances in this area, which is a prerequisite for a properly functioning democratic system.
“The two issues, with Serbia, go hand in hand. It has to be said that with the outgoing government, relations between the two countries do not resemble a love story. The EU must continue to work on this issue and work to unblock the situation”, said Elio Di Rupo (S&D, Belgian).
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/fl9 (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)