Commissioner for Enlargement: Waiting for Movement in Kosovo After Elections

She said that EU enlargement today is different from the way it was four or five years ago and that we now have a new positive moment in the EU”.

For the first time in the last ten years, we have the opportunity to membership in the EU one, two or three new countries during our mandate. But, I have told partners in recent weeks that there will be no concessions when it comes to basic criteria and EU values”, she said.

For Kosovo, she spoke completely at the end when asked by a European Parliament MP what she expects of the elections in Kosovo.

Kosovo “... I didn't mention Kosovo. There will be choices. I do not expect that we will be able to move ahead of the elections, but soon after the elections we have to move on. Because we cannot talk about the Western Balkan region unless we talk about dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina or sharing what Kosovo is doing and what Serbia” is doing, Kos said.

The commissioner added that this year, he expects positive developments in the enlargement process and that he expects greater progress than there has been in the last ten years.

There could be more progress during the Polish Presidency than we had in the last ten years, we could have up to ten intergovernmental conferences”, she stressed.

Kos also warned that soon he will visit Montenegro and Albania, countries it views as the most advanced in the enlargement process.

Montenegro has a vision of closing negotiations by 2026 and Albania until 2027. We're going to support them, but it takes a lot of hard work. The principle of the credit-based process should be valid for candidate countries as well as for EU member states. So, when candidates meet the criteria, then EU countries must enable walking ahead of“, Kos said.

Following elections held on February 9th in Kosovo, new EU foreign policy chief Kaya Kallas is expected to complete her first tour of the Western Balkan region.

On the other hand, the European Union's envoy for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, has warned that the focus this week in Brussels will be on the first Joint Commission meeting for Missing Persons in the recent war in Kosovo.