The European Commission on Wednesday noted Kosovo’s «clear» European perspective after the territory’s authorities signed the application to join the European Union.
«Kosovo has a clear European perspective. The EU continues to support Kosovo on its path towards the EU, starting with the implementation of the EU-Kosovo Stabilization and Association Agreement that entered into force in 2016,» a spokesperson for the EU executive stressed to Europa Press on the step taken by Pristina.
The letter will now be delivered to the EU Council Presidency, which rests with the Czech Republic, probably tomorrow, coinciding with the summit of EU-27 leaders, and will then decide on the processing and next steps before sending the request to the European Commission for an opinion on Pristina’s chances of accession to the bloc.
The EU treaty stipulates that the rotating presidency must inform the other member states and also the European Parliament. It is then up to the foreign ministers to assess the case and decide whether to seek the opinion of Brussels.
As of today five EU member states, including Spain, do not recognize the independence of the former Serbian province, so it is not clear how Pristina’s request will be dealt with, a step that normally takes months in the Council and in this case could be a more complicated procedure.
Spain has not clarified whether it will support Kosovo’s request after Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares declared this week that it was «political fiction» despite the fact that the request was imminent.
«If that request arrives it will be the moment to take the decisions that have to be taken, I don’t like to make politics fiction and at the moment that is not on the table,» Albares said Monday, after Serbia asked EU countries that do not recognize Kosovo’s independence to block its access to the community club.
