Kukan: Kosovo not expect positive reports from European Commission

European Parliament Foreign Affairs Commission member and multi-year chairman of the Committee for Co-operation with the Western Balkans, Eduard Kukani, has declared that Kosovo, just as Bosnia and Herzegovina should not expect positive reports from the European Commission this year.

According to him, the rule of law and economic aspects of the country are still under a major question, while normalising relations with Serbia is in stagnation, with long-standing escalations and tensions on both sides.

The European Commission believes reforms in Kosovo have slowed due to the election period in Kosovo last year.

On the eve of the April 17th publication of the progress report for the six countries in the Western Balkans, Brussels indicated that Brussels' support and focus on the enlargement process will not affect in any form the state of democracy, rule of law, human rights, economy and compliance with EU standards in each of the six partner states in the region.

Albania and Macedonia, according to first information from the European Commission's annual report, will receive recommendations for opening membership negotiations with the EU.

Earlier this year, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that if Albania continues this way on the path to reforms, the Commission will give a recommendation to start membership negotiations within the first six months of 2018. And that's probably gonna happen. Unofficially, the DA learned from Brussels' diplomatic sources that senior EU officials have held discussions with member states on opening membership negotiations with Skopje and Tirana virtually until the time of the adoption of reports.