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EU, Kosovo ink deal opening possible membership route

28 October 2015, 17:23 CET
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EU, Kosovo ink deal opening possible membership route

Mustafa - Mogherini - Photo EU Council

(STRASBOURG) - The European Union signed a long-awaited accord with Kosovo on Tuesday that will lead to closer ties and could open the way to EU membership for the small Balkan country.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade refuses to recognise, after years of tensions following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

One of Europe's poorest nations, it has made EU membership a key objective and Prime Minister Isa Mustafa hailed Tuesday's agreement for "sealing Kosovo's path" towards joining the 28-member bloc.

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini, who signed the accord with Mustafa at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, said it marked "a new phase in the EU-Kosovo relationship".

"It represents an important contribution to stability and prosperity in Kosovo and the region at large," Mogherini said at the signing.

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement is the first key step for non-EU countries on the long road towards membership of the bloc, which currently groups 28 nations.

It requires the country concerned to ensure that its governance and civil society norms -- for example on human rights and the judiciary -- are brought up to EU standards.

It also involves a commitment to improve trade relations, with candidate countries having to open up their economies progressively in return for EU help.

"It is the road of strengthening democracy and building the rule of law, the road of political stability and economic prosperity," said Mustafa in a statement after the signing.

Kosovo's Minister of European Integration Bekim Çollaku, who also signed the deal, described it on Twitter as a "truly historic moment".

But in Serbia, the head of the government office for Kosovo strongly played down the agreement's importance.

"The fact that our southern province today launches a sort of contractual relationship with the European Commission does not, and never will, mean to us that our province is a separate state," Marko Djuric told local media.

"One signature does not introduce and implement European values on certain territory."

Despite Serbia's refusal to recognise Kosovo's breakaway in 2008, it was accepted by 23 of the 28 EU member states, plus the United States and many others.

- 'Don't expect miracles' -

Anxious to ensure stability in its neighbourhood, the EU brokered a normalisation accord between Kosovo and Serbia in 2013, clearing the way for membership talks with Belgrade and negotiations on the association agreement with Pristina.

Some EU member states had reservations about Kosovo's rights record but felt it was better to have them on board than not, EU sources told AFP previously.

In Kosovo's capital Pristina, economics lecturer and analyst Naim Gashi welcomed the agreement which "confirms that Kosovo is ready to begin to adjust to the market economy in the EU".

"But the road will be long and we should not immediately expect miracles and fundamental changes for the better on the ground," he warned.

He suggested the first positive economic results from the agreement would be seen at the end of 2016, when the European market would be opened for Kosovo's agricultural goods.

Despite Kosovo's progressing relationship with the EU, the functioning of its parliament has been paralysed in recent weeks by opposition MPs, who have released tear gas in protest at agreements made by the government with Serbia.

Kosovo, whose population is predominantly ethnic Albanian, was at war with Serbia in 1998-1999, which ended after Serbian armed forces withdrew from the territory following an 11-week NATO bombing campaign.

EU relations with Kosovo

 


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