Ben-Meir: EU is very unhappy with Kurti

American professor and expert in political science, Alon Ben-Meir, says the European Union is dissatisfied with the way Prime Minister Albin Kurti is dealing with dialogue.

He claims the chief executive's position “has made zero progress and has opposed the EU”. According to him, Kosovo after the election process should reconsider its position in this process.

New York University professor in the Kosovo Press interview also talks about Association, which among other things he considers Kosovo is obliged to start with steps towards foundation.

Western Balkan Affairs expert Alon Ben-Meir says dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has not produced results, however, sees returning to the negotiating table necessary.

“Even though the dialogue has not produced any results, no dialogue is certainly a dead end. So, despite dialogue, specifically after the February elections, it can move forward because I think Kurt has learned a series of lessons over the past four years, that this kind of attitude has just made zero progress and has opposed the EU instead of approaching the EU. I mean, imagine the EU imposed sanctions on Kosovo, not on Serbia, because the EU is very unhappy with Kurt and the way he is handling these negotiations, this dialogue. So the dialogue has to resume, but before it resumes, the government itself, Kosovo itself after the elections, because I do not expect anything to happen from now until February, it must rethink its position if it wants to move faster on to integration with the EU, it must make a move to demonstrate that it is ready to negotiate specifically in a field that it should do in one way or another. But, of course, this in itself will not suffice for Kosovo to become an EU member, because there are other issues that Kosovo must meet”, Ben-Meir declares.

Ben-Meir, who is a professor at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, stresses that Kurti should work with the bloc's five non-recognising countries to be part of the European Union.

American professor as he talks about establishing the Association of Serb-run municipalities, says Serbia should stop the campaign against recognising Kosovo. Ben-Meir, who has spent part of his career dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, considers that after the February 9th elections, Kosovo must resolve the issue of association.

In the European Commission's Country Report, Kosovo is required to initiate procedures for establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities.

Experts on Western Balkan issues say this issue should be resolved, no matter what happened in relations between the two countries.