Merz idea for “associated membership”, Konjufca: No proposal creating EU waiting rooms

In an interview for Radio Free Europe, incumbent Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca says involvement in the Common European Market may be step-stepping, but stresses there are still no clear details.

“We welcome every new plan aimed at the quickest integration of Western Balkan countries into the European Union... The position of Kosovo is that we do not support any proposal, which creates waiting rooms in the EU”, says Konjufca.

Konjufca participated in G security forum works LOBSEC in Prague, where he also talked about REL.

Radio Free Europe: Mr. Konjufca, recent days the idea of several European Union countries engaging Western Balkan countries in the Common European Market is being circulated to push ahead on their path towards full EU membership. What is the Kosovo authorities' position on this initiative?

Glauk Konjufca: We, to be honest, welcome every new plan aimed at the quickest integration of Western Balkan countries into the European Union.

From the signing phase of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement until membership negotiations are opened, what constitutes the core of negotiations for each state are mainly economic negotiations, how to create all the mechanisms needed for the respective country's involvement in the single market.

So this initiative, which was effectively welcomed by the [German, Friedrich] Merz Chancellor, and was pushed forward by countries like Austria and Chechia, is, in some way, to give a new speed to the enlargement process.

This is welcome, but what's more important in this process, as much as the idea, is the details of which we don't yet have.

I expect, in the coming weeks, these countries will go to details and details as far as moving forward.

Radio Free Europe: Do you believe this will be a transitor step towards the EU?

Glauk Konjufca: If they divide it in phases, where some are prepared to join the EU, others can be observers immediately... to see now. What we have said, which is the position of Kosovo, is that we do not support any proposal that creates waiting rooms in the European Union. The other is political problems, for example, the non-recognitionants of Kosovo and others. But we do not want waiting rooms in the EU.

Radio Free Europe: However, Kosovo has its EU membership application in the waiting room since 2022...

Glauk Konjufca: Yeah, she's not treated, it's true. Here, the elephant in the room is obviously political and it is obviously dialogue with Serbia.

I think that non-recognising states and dialogue with Serbia keep our app, which has been submitted nearly four years ago.

The official response that Brussels gives, whenever we raise this issue, is: you must work harder with member states. When it is said with member states, nonrecognition countries are meant. We constantly work with them with Spain, Greece, and others.

But, always in those conversations come good neighbourly relations with Serbia, which I think without our fault they've received big trust shocks in the last two to three years because of attacks like the one in Banjska.

Radio Free Europe: Does the Kosovo government, even though it is now in office, have any concrete plans to push this process forward?

Glauk Konjufca: We have adopted the EU Growth Plan in the Republic of Kosovo Assembly. Kosovo is one of the countries that the European reform agenda has approved and is implementing it is the country with the probably highest commitment to the Western Balkans in terms of this agenda.

But when it comes to reforms and [EU] funds, political unity, the function of democracy and institutions are important. Because if by December we have this ordeal, we will lose 250m euros which means there are 25%-30% of the Growth Plan.

However, despite the reforms we make, it seems that sometimes in negotiations with the EU, it weighs more dialogue with Serbia than the internal reforms we make.

Because if it is Kosovo in parameters with other states, in parameters of democracy, of economic growth that Kosovo has, of judicial independence, etc. Kosovo is far ahead.

Radio Free Europe: But we had a recent publication on the International Monetary Fund database, which released Kosovo as Europe's second poorest country.

Glauk Konjufca: Yes, but, at the same time, the World Bank says Kosovo will have a stable economic growth of over 4 percent. This narrows the difference with other countries.

For Kosovo to overcome four countries or five countries, it is not easy, because it is Montenegro, you have Serbia, you have states that have had far more consolidated economies than Kosovo, which has emerged destroyed by war.

We also need to reduce differences with these countries.

Radio Free Europe"We are on the eve of the June 7th election and are necessarily interested in your expectations of this process...

Glauk Konjufca: It was not good news that Kosovo is going to the third elections within a year and a half, but belongs to Kosovo citizens. I do not want from this forum, which I am in the quality of the foreign minister, to go deep into the details of our political scene, because I will do that when I return to Kosovo.

Radio Free Europe: Do you expect these elections to lead to the formation of all institutions until the president's election?

Glauk KonjufcaYes, I believe so. I am very optimistic that these will be the last elections for the next four years.