Kurti disagrees with Kallas: Kosovo should be granted EU candidate country status

The acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has welcomed the start of the lifting of the European Union's punitive measures against Kosovo, while calling for them to be completely lifted.

Kurti told the EU's chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, whom he met in Pristina on the evening of May 22, that "Kosovo should receive candidate status as the most advanced democracy in the Western Balkans," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

Kosovo applied for membership in the European Union on December 15, 2022, but its application has not yet been reviewed, and as a result it is the only country in the Balkans that does not yet have candidate country status.

Earlier on Thursday, in Belgrade, Kallas said she is "deeply committed" to encouraging all Western Balkan countries to "truly take advantage of the current momentum we have in the EU enlargement process."

"Yes, this process has been underway for quite some time, but there is always a political moment, and this political moment is now - a United Europe is a vision that we should all work towards," she stressed.

In Pristina, meanwhile, Kallas said that "Kosovo belongs to the European family, but there is no shortcut to EU membership." She urged that "progress can only be achieved through continuous reforms."

With the European chief diplomat - who visited Pristina on Thursday, after a stay in Belgrade - Kurti also discussed the dialogue with Serbia, which is mediated by the EU.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the acting head of the Kosovo executive "stressed the importance of the full implementation" of the Agreement for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, known as the Ohrid Agreement, while calling for Serbia to be held responsible for the attack in Banjska, in northern Kosovo, and for Milan Radoićić, who has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed a Kosovo policeman, to be handed over to Kosovo.

At the dinner held with Kallas, Kurti "also raised the issue of the continuous and serious violations of the rights of Albanians in Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac by the state of Serbia and demanded that the EU take concrete actions to protect the rights of Albanians in the Valley," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Kurti and the European chief diplomat also spoke "about the post-election process in the country and the commitments for the formation of the institutions of the ninth legislature," the statement said.

Kallas called on Thursday on parliamentary parties in Kosovo to cooperate to unblock the political deadlock in the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Pristina, on her first visit to Kosovo, Kallas said that the EU is ready to support Kosovo, but political party leaders must put aside divisions and prioritize Kosovo's future./ REL