Debate: Report on Kosovo
Date: TUESDAY, 9 MAY 2023
Speaker: Olivér Várhelyi
Language: EN

Last month, the European Parliament completed the legislative process allowing visa-free travel for Kosovo’s citizens. The Commission welcomes this long overdue decision. From the 1st of January next year, Kosovo’s citizens will be able to travel without any visa requirements. Finally, all Western Balkan 6 have visa-free access to the EU. This is another positive signal to the whole region and another commitment that the future of the Western Balkans lies within the European Union. Alignment with the EU common foreign and security policy has never been more important. Kosovo’s Government has taken clear positions by condemning Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and by aligning with the EU statements and sanctions against Russia and Belarus. We welcome this clear commitment with the EU values and positions. Kosovo continues its efforts to deliver on EU-related reforms, including in key areas such as the fight against corruption and organised crime. As highlighted in the Commission report from last year, in the area of the fight against corruption, there is a need to improve the implementation of the overall legal framework. Sustained efforts are needed to achieve more productive investigations, final court decisions and final confiscation of assets. Regarding organised crime, the Commission report stipulates that limited progress was made in investigating and prosecuting organised crime cases. We would also like to see a faster pace of reform, including at the Assembly, which has a critical role to play in advancing the government’s EU agenda. We welcome Kosovo’s efforts to improve the efficiency, integrity and professionalism of the judiciary. At the same time, from the Commission’s side, we also underline in our report that the overall administration of justice continues to be slow, inefficient and vulnerable to undue influence. As you also note from the report, these efforts should respect the Venice Commission’s recommendations on the matter, which we have welcomed. The Commission stands ready to continue our cooperation with the authorities on this important issue and provide further technical assistance. On the economic front, the EU and Kosovo are facing common challenges: energy and other commodities, inflation and concerns about the future. As the Commission highlighted in its report, Kosovo made some progress on the economic criteria, and it is at an early stage of developing a functioning market economy. The economy demonstrated resilience during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the long-standing structural challenges such as the widespread informal economy, the high prevalence of corruption and the overall weak rule of law continue to hinder the private sector. The energy sector remains also a cause for concern, not only for Kosovo, but for many of our partners in the Western Balkans. To help the region deal with the energy crisis, the Commission has put forward a EUR 1 billion energy support package for the entire Western Balkans. As part of this package, Kosovo receives EUR 75 million in direct budget support. More funds will become available to support Kosovo as it steps up its green transition. In this context, we welcome Kosovo’s adoption of its energy strategy for the next ten years. We remain committed to help Kosovo in every way we can, including through our financial assistance. Kosovo needs to increase its efforts to take full advantage of the opportunities offered under the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans and IPA III. For these investments to deliver fully, we need the region to push ahead with building a common regional market. We welcome the three mobility agreements reached in the framework of the Berlin Process at the end of last year. However, we need Kosovo to engage constructively in regional cooperation initiatives in order to make further progress possible. When it comes to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, progress has been made over the last year. In February and March, Kosovo and Serbia agreed on a normalisation agreement and an implementation annex to it. It is now essential that both parties implement all their obligations without delay from this agreement. As it was stated by the European Council in February 2023, so this year, and I quote, ‘The European Council urges both parties to implement fully and without conditions the obligations they committed to in the framework of the dialogue, including the agreements from the years 2013 and 2015 to create an association/community of Serb majority municipalities.’ The key is for Kosovo to engage constructively, and as the EU Special Representative for Kosovo and Serbia dialogue has highlighted, the draft of the management team is the starting point for further discussions about the association. Normalisation is key for both to advance on their respective European path and will also contribute to the stability, development and prosperity of the entire region. Let me end on this note: Kosovo and the entire region belong in the European Union. They are part of the European family, and we will stand by Kosovo on its journey to Europe.