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The EU is divided on their policy towards Kosovo, with 5 of 27 EU member states (Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Spain) not recognising its sovereignty. Kosovo is officially considered a potential candidate for membership by the European Union, and it has been given a clear "European perspective" by the Council of the European Union ...
Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008. As of 4 September 2020, 114 out of 193 (59.1%) United Nations member states have formally recognised the Republic of Kosovo. Notably, 22 out of 27 (81%) member states of the European Union and 24 out of 28 (86%) member states of NATO have recognised Kosovo. Serbia refuses to recognise it.
In June 2014, Kosovo became a member state of the Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe. [402] On 24 April 2023, the first phase of Kosovo's bid to join the Council of Europe was completed, when it was accepted by the Committee of Ministers with a two-thirds majority. [403]
In 2014, Kosovo's Deputy Prime and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hashim Thaçi, reiterated the state's desire to join in December 2014. [102] Kosovo's Foreign Minister Hoxhaj has said that Kosovo's goal was to be a full UN member state by 2020 and NATO member state by 2022. [103] [104]
[240] [241] In 2014 he said that it would have been 'very difficult' for an independent Scotland to join the EU, 'if not impossible', because of the difficulty of getting the approval of all member states, particularly Spain, which fears a possible secession of Catalonia and has blocked Kosovo's accession to the EU. [242]
The U.S. and the EU have pressed Serbia and Kosovo to take steps to lower tensions. Normalization of relations is the key condition for the two countries to move forward in their efforts to join ...
[2] [3] As a result, an EU representative in Kosovo explained that "unlike SAA with other countries of the region, this one will be exclusively the EU agreement. The EU will co-sign it as a legal entity." [4] The agreement did not need to be individually ratified by each member state, some of which have not recognized the independence of Kosovo ...
Normalisation of relations with neighbouring states is a key precondition for states wishing to join the EU; the Brussels Agreement brought Serbia close to EU accession talks and Kosovo to initializing a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). The SAA was signed by HR Mogherini and Kosovar Prime Minister Isa Mustafa in October 2015.