Luxembourg, 16 June 2026 – At the invitation of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, currently held by Cyprus, and the European Commission, the Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Kosovo with the European Union, Mr. Jeton Zulfaj, participated in the meeting of Ministers for European Affairs held within the framework of the General Affairs Council (GAC).
This was the first meeting involving enlargement partner countries under the European Democracy Shield initiative since it was launched by the European Commission in November 2025.
In his remarks, Mr. Zulfaj stressed that democracy is the one area in which integration into EU instruments should be rapid rather than gradual. The European Union’s peace, freedom and prosperity have been built upon democratic foundations. He emphasized that democracy is not guaranteed, but rather a legacy that every generation must protect.
Chief Negotiator Zulfaj highlighted Kosovo’s significant democratic progress in the areas of the rule of law, the fight against corruption, media freedom and electoral standards. However, he noted that Kosovo continues to be targeted by foreign interference and disinformation campaigns, including Russian narratives disseminated across the region through Serbia, aimed at polarizing society and undermining the democratic will of the citizens.
He recalled that during this year’s elections, tens of thousands of political posts, AI-generated videos and fabricated statements were recorded. He also noted that the EU Election Observation Mission last year identified dozens of articles published by the Russian media outlets Sputnik Srbija and Russia Today, operating from Belgrade, which targeted Kosovo’s electoral campaign with disinformation.
Chief Negotiator Zulfaj emphasized that Kosovo has already taken concrete steps to strengthen its digital and democratic resilience, including the establishment of the Ministry of Digitalization, the expansion of eKosova services, the enhancement of cybersecurity capacities, and investment in media literacy and active citizenship.
In this context, he welcomed the inclusion of the EU’s enlargement partner countries in the European Democracy Shield and underlined the importance of their early participation in the initiative’s mechanisms, including early warning channels, incident response protocols, rapid response exercises, as well as connecting fact-checkers and researchers from Kosovo with the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO).