Kosovo leaders on Wednesday signed a formal application seeking membership in the European Union, a drawn-out process that is further complicated by Pristina’s fractious relations with Belgrade.
President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and parliamentary speaker Glauk Konjufca jointly inked the documents due to be submitted to the Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
“Today is a historic day. It is a historical moment,” Osmani told reporters after the signing ceremony.
The move “aims to open a new chapter for the state and for our society,” Kurti added.
Kosovo is the last country in the Western Balkans to apply for EU membership, after Brussels recognised Bosnia’s candidate status on Tuesday.
However, five members of the bloc — Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus — do not recognise Kosovo as an independent country.
Pristina declared independence in 2008, however Belgrade — along with its key allies Russia and China — still consider it a part of Serbia.
Normalising ties with Belgrade will be imperative for Kosovo’s bid. Despite the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, the two neighbours have been at loggerheads for decades.
Belgrade encourages the Serb majority in northern Kosovo to defy Pristina’s authority and the region saw an escalation of violence recently — including shootings and explosions.
The EU recently reaffirmed its commitment to the Western Balkans enlargement process at a summit in Tirana, while Russia’s war in Ukraine underlines the importance for Europeans to stabilise the volatile region.
However, the actual accession of these countries remains a distant prospect.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Kosovo has resolutely sided with the West, while Serbia is playing a delicate balancing act between East and West, condemning the Russian invasion at the UN but refusing to align itself with Western sanctions against Moscow.
Kosovo has already applied for membership in the Council of Europe, EU’s leading human rights organisation.
