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Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti with Czech EU Minister Mikulas Bek: Application for membership submitted
Photo: MICHAL CIZEK / AFP
The Republic of Kosovo has officially submitted its EU membership application.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti presented the application in Prague to the Czech government, which currently holds the EU presidency.
"The European Union is a goal we aspire to and it is the destiny we embrace," said Kurti.
The corresponding document was signed by President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca on Wednesday in the capital Pristina.
For the youngest state in Europe, it was a rather symbolic act: EU membership is currently not within reach for the country, which has been independent since 2008.
Formally, Kosovo only has »EU accession prospects«.
The candidate status that Bosnia-Herzegovina is to receive is also not up for debate.
The main obstacle to EU rapprochement is that five EU member states - Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus - do not recognize Kosovo.
conflict with Serbia
The country, which is now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, used to belong to Yugoslavia or Serbia.
After repression by the Serbian security forces against the Albanian civilian population, NATO bombed targets in what was then the rest of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in spring 1999.
The Serbian security forces and state organs left Kosovo.
The UN mission UNMIK took over the administration and the creation of Kosovar institutions.
In February 2008, the Kosovar parliament declared independence.
More than 100 countries, including Germany, but not Russia, China, Serbia and the five EU countries recognized the new state.
To this day, Serbia has not renounced its claim to the territory of Kosovo.
At the same time, it repeatedly stirs up tensions in the northern part of the country, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Serbs.
The prerequisite for Kosovo's admission is to relax the country's relationship with Serbia.
The EU recently presented a new proposal to normalize relations.
According to diplomats, it provides that Serbia does not have to recognize the independence of Kosovo, but should accept it.
Specifically, this should mean in particular that the government in Belgrade will no longer block Kosovo's membership in international organizations.
In return, Serbia could receive significant financial and economic aid from the EU.
ptz/dpa/AP/Reuters
