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Issued on: 13/11/2026 - 18:46Modified: 13/11/2026 - 18:52
FRANCE 24 hosts Albin Kurti, the prime minister of Kosovo, a country that declared its independence from Serbia back in 2008 and sees itself as part of the European family. But four years after applying to join the EU, Kosovo has still not received candidate status. We explore Kosovo's path towards the EU, and the broader European and regional dynamics surrounding that.
Kurti regrets that "we are the only ones in Europe without candidate status. That is because the European Council is not asking the European Commission for an opinion on Kosova. We have done all our homework when it comes to democratic indexes on the rule of law, the fight against corruption, transparency, freedom of the press, electoral democracy, liberal democracy."
Kurti goes on: "We want no shortcuts, no back door, no fast track; we want a merit-based process. And we're ready for that. We will diligently and vigilantly answer thousands of questions in the questionnaire (that has not yet been sent to Kosovo). Hopefully in the next weeks or months, we are going to get candidate status as we are the only ones without it in continental Europe."
The prime minister cites "internal dynamics" in the EU Council as the reason why Kosovo has not been sent that questionnaire to kickstart the process. In other words, the five "non-recognisers" of Kosovo's independence: Spain, Cyprus, Romania, Greece and Slovakia. Can Kosovo change the minds of those countries?
"We have ever increased collaboration and communication with the five non-recognisers," Kurti replies. "We have asked them to join the majority, the 22 members of the EU who do recognise us. There has been some incremental progress. For example, Spain does recognise our passport, and the status of our office in Athens has been elevated. These are positive signs, and yet the recognition is not there. However, the EU is not having problems with non-recognisers regarding Kosova because they have found this creative formula; they say 'diversity in recognition, but unity in engagement'. So we got the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. We got visa liberalisation. And the five non-recognisers are not an obstacle to sending the questionnaire to Kosova for the accession process."
We put it to Kurti that the EU Commission still has serious reservations about some of Kosovo's reforms, particularly on judicial independence.
"We do accept the critique of the EU regarding our judiciary and prosecution," the prime minister responds. "That's why the reforms have started. We are now about to establish a bureau on verification and confiscation of inexplicably obtained wealth. So you cannot have an average salary and a big mansion – or several of them. So we are in a positive process for doing judicial reform. But let us not forget that it is precisely the process of integration into the EU – the opening and closing of chapters and clusters – that would help us a great deal to reform not only our judiciary, but also our public administration."
Kurti intimates that it is too soon after the election in Serbia, in which former president Aleksandar Vucic lost his parliamentary majority, to tell if a new chapter in relations between Pristina and Belgrade can be opened. But he asserts that "we want full normalisation of relations with Serbia centred on mutual recognition. There is no time machine to go back to the 20th century."
He continues: "Kosova is an independent country, a democratic republic, and the sooner Belgrade acknowledges this, the better it will be for our relations and for their path towards the European Union."
Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Perrine Desplats, Charlotte Prudhomme and Isabelle Romero
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