Brussels – Following the official visit to Tirana, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is continuing her tour of the Western Balkans with a stop in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, where she met with Prime Minister Albin Kurti. “I have said it before, and I will say it again: I believe in a European future for Kosovo, quite clearly,” said von der Leyen at a press conference alongside the Prime Minister, who has been in office since 2021.
Kurti himself, in December 2022, submitted Kosovo’s official application for membership of the European Union. “It will be four years in mid-December since I submitted the application in Prague,” the Prime Minister recalled today. The application was handed over to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, which was led by the Czech Republic at the time.
Since then, “a great deal of progress has been made,” von der Leyen assured. And Kurti confirmed: “It’s clear to see.” The Prime Minister listed some of the country’s achievements, stating that “Kosovo is one of the fastest-growing countries” and that its public debt is “the lowest in Europe”. He also pointed out that the the World Bank has officially removed Kosovo from the list of “fragile and conflict-affected states” in July 2025.
But on the path towards EU membership, Pristina’s next objective remains to be achieved: to obtain candidate country status. The 2022 application for membership has not yet led to the opening of the procedure that precedes the possible granting of that status. The European Commission has repeatedly stated that it is ready to prepare its opinion on Kosovo’s application, but to do so it must first receive a formal request from the Council of the EU.
It is against this backdrop that von der Leyen’s message on the reforms still required takes place. “Kosovo can receive up to €882 million under the Growth Plan,” the President noted. Pristina has already received €61.8 million in pre-financing. However, to access the remaining funds, “a decisive acceleration of reforms is needed,” as all reforms must be implemented swiftly and the institutions must be fully operational.
For Pristina, therefore, the path to candidate status also involves speeding up domestic reforms and engaging in dialogue with Belgrade. In the short term, the first institutional step would be precisely what Kurti asked von der Leyen for today: to secure a request from the Council to the Commission to prepare an opinion on the application for membership. It will then be on the basis of that process that Member States will be able to discuss the next steps towards candidate status.
“I know how deeply European the people of Kosovo feel, and this is a solid foundation on which we must build. Our task is to turn this aspiration into concrete progress towards EU membership,” von der Leyen emphasised during the press conference. The President also outlined some more immediate objectives, including progress on roaming and accession to the SEPA area.
“Kosovo has done its part, and we are ready for the next step towards EU membership,” added Kurti, reiterating his hope for support from Brussels. “We are counting on your support to champion Kosovo’s needs openly and to grant it candidate country status,” he concluded, addressing von der Leyen.
From Pristina, the Commission President’s tour continues today to Podgorica, in Montenegro, where von der Leyen will meet President Jakov Milatović and Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
