Head of the Belgian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Theo Francken said that Belgium supports Kosovo’s membership in the NATO PA as an associate member.

Francken, along with a delegation from the Federal Parliament of Belgium, met on July 14 with the delegation of the Kosovo Assembly to the NATO PA.

“Kosovo can and should be an associated member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly; this would be a good step towards integration. The NATO PA considers it important to discuss stability and security in the Western Balkans, and this remains a priority for us,” Francken said at the press conference after the meeting.

Currently, the Kosovo Assembly is part of the NATO PA as an “observer delegation”, along with Australia, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Palestine, and Tunisia. Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia are full member delegations.

If Kosovo becomes a member of this body as an associated delegation, it would join Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from the region.

The visit of the Belgian delegation comes at a time of tensions in northern Kosovo, which has led NATO to deploy an additional 700 troops to Kosovo, in addition to the 4,000 troops already stationed there.

During the press conference, representative of the Kosovo Assembly delegation, MP Driton Hyseni from the ranks of the Self-Determination Movement, expressed gratitude for the support from the Belgian delegation.

He stated that the three members of the Belgian Parliament confirmed their support for Kosovo’s integration into the European Union and NATO, so that “Kosovo should never feel left behind but be part of the family of European values, just like we are”.

The Belgian delegation will also meet with the President of the Kosovo Assembly Glauk Konjufca, and later with the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Committee on Defense and Security, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, and the Committee on European Integration.