Joint meeting and conference of minister Çollaku with ministers of France and Germany

Full speech of the Minister of European Integration, Mr. Bekim Çollaku during a press conference he held today together with Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr. Harlem Desir and German Minister of State for Europe Mr. Michael Roth:

It is a great pleasure to have among us our honourable guests, the German Minister for Europe, Mr. Michael Roth and France Secretary of State for European Affairs, Mr. Harlem Desir. I highly appreciate and welcome the attention that France and Germany are paying to the developments in Kosovo and also in the region.

Dear colleagues, your visits to the Republic of Kosovo are always welcomed, and in this case your visit is conducted at most appropriate time. Our country is in very important moment in the EU integration agenda, now that SAA has entered into force, and that visa liberalisation process is close to its completion. Also, this is an important time for the region as a whole, seeing that regional cooperation is increasing, including the preparations that are being made for the next Summit of the Western Balkans to be held in Paris.

SAA, visa liberalisation and regional cooperation were the main topics of our exchange today, same as yesterday’s discussions and meetings with the President Thaçi and Prime Minister Mustafa.

We have discussed about entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement this month and same time how we can use best this instrument to advance forward our reforms, and to bring Kosovo closer to EU membership. In addition, I have used this opportunity to present directly to Mr. Desir and Mr. Roth the work we have put into meeting all the criteria in light of visa liberalisation process, and I have sought their support in ending this process soon as possible.

Also, I have repeated our pledge that we will continue to uphold the obligations set out in the visa roadmap.

We have paid a special attention to issues related to regional cooperation, which constitutes an important component of the EU integration process.

In this context, we have mentioned the topic of the dialogue facilitated by EU on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. I emphasized our commitment to this process by underlining our view that implementation of agreements reached so far is of a key importance to move this process forward; with the aim of reaching a final result of a legally binding agreement ensuring both our countries to accomplish aspirations towards the EU membership.

And finally, as an important issue, we discussed the preparations for the next summit of the Western Balkans, to be held in Paris in July. This is the next key moment that deriving from Berlin process and the series of high-level meetings of Western Balkan 6. This will be an important meeting, and we are ready to provide our contribution. One of the outcomes that we look forward to achieve together is the establishment of the Youth Cooperation Regional Office that will lead to a new essential level of the regional cooperation.

Allow me to conclude by saying that as two founding membersof EU and promoters of European values, Germany and France represent a perfect example of how to overcome the problems of the past and to move towards a common future. We intend to take this message into consideration that these countries bring to Kosovo and the entire region.

Last modified: August 10, 2022