Minister Hoxha in Brussels, the EU should not keep the citizens of Kosovo isolated

Brussels, 4 December 2018 – Minister of European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, is attending the high-level meeting in Brussels, organized by “Friends of Europe”, with the theme “EU-Western Balkans: Enlargement, Integration and Transformation Challenges “.

The European integration process is one of the main goals of our country, as we have common values and common principles of Europe, Minister Hoxha noted in the introductory speech.

There is no doubt that we are definitely the most pro-European country in Europe, stressed Minister Hoxha, but the question is whether the European Union cares to make Kosovars feel part of Europe and its values, which does not seem so.

Then, Minister Hoxha elaborated the visa issue.

“As it has been confirmed by the European Commission, Kosovo has met all 95 criteria from the roadmap offered in 2012. The voting in the European Parliament was very encouraging for us, pushing for a step towards to the ultimate goal, which is the free movement of Kosovo citizens. Unlike other countries in the region, Kosovo had 95 criteria to meet, the highest number of criteria. Kosovo has done its homework by fulfilling all 95 criteria that were not easy, “said Minister Hoxha.

About 5 months ago, said Minister, the European Commission confirmed the fulfillment of the criteria by Kosovo and Kosovo has no results, even without reasonable explanation why the EU is unable to keep its promise and respect its rules and procedures.

“For 20 years we believed that EU institutions will do all they can to keep the European perspective of our country, as for the whole region, dynamic, concrete and achievable, but this seems impossible at this stage and you can imagine how discouraging is this for our citizens,”, said Minister Hoxha said and added how to then trust the EU enlargement process and consensus on enlargement with Western Balkan countries if EU cannot provide technical answers such as liberalization of visas.

Minister Hoxha expressed the concern that Kosovo is the only isolated country in the Western Balkans, having only the signed SSA, noting the small chances that Kosovo will soon have a European perspective.

“Kosovo is doing everything to meet EU standards, principles and values, however it seems as if we are approaching the EU, the EU runs away from us,” stressed Minister Hoxha, noting the of the aggressive global politics to influence with its agenda in the region but also on the capacities of the Western Balkans to resist that influence.

Last modified: August 8, 2022