Two years since SAA signing with EU

Kosovo has signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union on 27 October 2015 in Strasbourg.

The signing of this document also marks the first establishment of contractual relations between Kosovo and the EU.

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement requires a country aimed at EU membership, to ensure that its mechanisms of governance and civil society meet EU standards.

Kosovo and the European Commission have put initials in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement since July 2014.

The signing process has slowed because of a lack of consensus within the European Union itself, Kosovo's non-recognition as a state by five EU nations respectively.

Later, however, it is agreed that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement will not be ratified by the parliaments of each member state separately, as has been the practice with other countries.

Negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement have started four years ago, only after Kosovo is engaged in talks with Serbia on normalising relations.

Serbia has won EU membership negotiations in return.