Bislimi: Kosovo deserves the status of a candidate country for the EU

2024-12-14 18:43:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Bislimi: Kosovo deserves the status of a candidate country for the EU

Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has said that Kosovo is ready to continue with its integration into the mechanisms of the European Union, talking about the application made for membership in 2022.

"Our application for membership in the EU, together with the high level of applicability of reforms as never before, proven in the percentage of applicability of the ERA II reform agenda with 72% compared to 45% as it was in the previous governments, the extent of the implementation of National Program for European Integration with 66%, the achievement of visa liberalization after many years of waiting, and progress in the rule of law, the fight against organized crime of corruption and economic growth, among others, showed that our country is ready for further steps forward on the path towards integration into the European Union and alignment with EU standards."

Among other things, it is emphasized that Kosovo is ready to start all the procedures it needs for EU membership, saying that the country is willing and ready to prove the institutional level of preparation whenever the European Union is ready to open this way to the Republic of Kosovo.

"We proved this through the Growth Plan and the massive work developed in this process, where we were congratulated by the European Union for the level of preparation. We are waiting for the acceptance of the questionnaire and evaluation based on meritocracy for the advancement in the process".

Also, it is emphasized that Bislimi, during his last visit to Warsaw, Poland, has already started consultations with the future Polish presidency of the EU, for obtaining the status of a candidate country.

"Kosovo deserves to receive the status of a candidate country, and we will prove this by accepting the completed questionnaire according to the criteria and deadlines set by the European Union. We remain fully committed to arguing the importance of this step and the level of preparation of Kosovo, therefore we expect concrete steps with the arrival of the new constellation in the composition of the institutions in the European Union, and the future presidency of Poland from January. Consultations with the Presidency of Poland started earlier, especially during the last visit of Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi to Warsaw".