MEP on Kosovo-Serbia issue: European Union has had an unbalanced approach

MEP on Kosovo-Serbia issue: European Union has had an unbalanced approach

Dutch MEP Thijs Reuten reconfirmed his support for Kosovo’s path to membership in the European Union.

In December 2022, Kosovo officially applied for membership in the European Union during the Czech Presidency, but no steps have been taken to consider it.

MEP Reuten told A2 CNN that there is no justification for Kosovo’s application to remain on the shelf for so long.

“One of the important steps is that Kosovo’s application for membership is finally put into process. I cannot stand the fact that it has been on the shelf for so long. There is absolutely no reason for this. We can continue the process, despite the fact that some EU member states still do not recognize Kosovo. This is true, but we can still move forward with the consideration of the application for membership,” says Thijs Reuten.

Reuten also expressed optimism about the lifting of the European Union’s punitive measures against Kosovo now that Serbian mayors are expected to return to the northern municipalities.

“Now that the local elections are over, the measures against Kosovo should first be lifted. In my opinion, they should not have been imposed at all and should have been lifted long ago. But now that we will soon have new mayors taking office in the respective municipalities, I think this is the moment for the Commission and the member states to lift the sanctions,” the MEP declared.

Regarding the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, the Dutch MEP, part of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, hopes that the process will take a new direction.

“For the dialogue, it is clear that a new momentum is needed. We cannot continue with the routine of recent years. I hope that Commissioner Kos, also in this regard, will take steps forward and that with the new dialogue mediator [Peter Sorensen] the process will change and the excessive link that has been made to progress towards membership will be resolved, because this gives too much room for blockages both for Serbia, but especially for Kosovo to move forward towards candidate country status and membership,” he said.

Reuten believes that the dialogue should not become an obstacle to advancing Kosovo’s application to the European Union, asking the mediator in this process to be equal.

“The European Union should be strict and equal in its approach to both countries, which has not happened. There has been an unbalanced approach. However, what we need from everyone, including the Kosovo side, is to close this chapter and to really commit to taking steps forward. But for this to happen, the EU must be clear about what it requires from this process and not link it so closely to progress on the path to membership,” says Thijs Reuten.

Kosovo has long been demanding that its application be reviewed, that it be given the questionnaire and the status of a candidate country for membership in the European Union, but these requests have not been taken into account.