The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has once again called for the removal of the EU’s punitive measures against Kosovo, while her Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkevics, has stated that his country shares the same stance.
The two leaders made these remarks during a joint press conference in Pristina.
“The restrictive measures must be lifted. I don’t know if we will mark the second anniversary of these measures, but Latvia’s position is clear: the restrictive measures should be removed, and we will continue to advocate for this,” said the President of Latvia.
The European Union imposed these restrictive measures on Kosovo in June 2023, holding Kosovar authorities responsible for escalating the situation in the north of the country.
Kosovo considers these measures unfair, arguing that it has fulfilled all the conditions for their removal.
President Osmani expressed gratitude to Latvia for its continuous support of Kosovo’s aspirations to join international organizations.
“Latvia understands Kosovo’s position best, as both our countries share a painful and difficult past and border aggressive neighboring states. However, like Latvia, Kosovo is deeply committed to Euro-Atlantic values and the principle of good neighborly relations while preserving our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Osmani.
She also called on the EU to find ways to advance Kosovo’s candidacy status.
During the conference, President Rinkevics affirmed that Latvia would work to support Kosovo’s EU path, although he could not promise that Kosovo would secure candidate status this year.
Kosovo applied for EU membership in late 2022, but its application has yet to be considered.
“Latvia fully supports Kosovo’s integration into international organizations, and we discussed at length its accession to the Council of Europe. We believe that this membership could pave the way for entry into other international organizations as well,” Rinkevics stated.
He also did not rule out the possibility of defense cooperation between the two countries.
