Prishtina, 10 April 2020 – Acting Minister of European Integration, Blerim Reka, received today Danijela Barisic, the Ambassador of Croatia and the country which has the Presidency of EU.
Sharing the common concerns about the consequences of the corona virus, Acting Minister Reka, informed Ambassador Barisic that even in these pandemic circumstances, the Government and the Ministry of European Integration continues its commitment to the reforms from European agenda.
In this regard, acting Minister Reka informed the Croatian Ambassador that in the last meeting of the Government, five of the agenda items approved by the Government, were related to the European Union, such as the approval of: the initiative for the IPA 2019 agreement (part two), IPA 2020, as well as IPA II, and tripartite financial agreements between: Kosovo, the EU and Albania, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro. Also, during this period of time, although in circumstances of pandemic constraints, the Ministry continued to deliver to Brussels its input on country annual report, the Stabilization and Association Agreement and the European Agenda Reform.
Thanking the EU for the emergency first aid of 5 million EURO for dealing with pandemics and other promised 160 million EURO, Minister Reka asked Croatia as EU Presidency for support and push forward the prolonged issue – that of visa liberalization.
Ambassador Barisic reiterated Croatia’s support – as a friend of Kosovo, for Kosovo’s European path and in support to visa liberalization for Kosovo citizens. She informed the Minister Reka about the date of EU Summit for the Western Balkans that will be held in Zagreb, that even though it was predestined to be held in the first week of May, the date of the Summit is postponed for June 2020 due to COVID-19 outbreak. Regarding to this, Ambassador Barisic stressed that in cooperation with the European President Charles Michel, we are trying to find the new date in June, to organize the EU-Western Balkans Summit, in Zagreb.
Last modified: August 5, 2022
