The European Commission recommended the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, while also recommending the start of negotiations with Moldova, provided they meet the remaining conditions.<\/p>\n
As for Georgia, on November 8, the Commission stated it recommends granting the official candidate status if the stipulated conditions set by the bloc are met.<\/p>\n
The European Commission also recommended the commencement of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the EU, once the required level of compliance with accession criteria is reached. The Commission will report on progress to the Council until March 2024.<\/p>\n
The package of enlargement, along with individual progress reports for all states involved in this process, was approved during the meeting of the 27 European Commissioners on November 8.<\/p>\n
For the first time, progress reports were approved for ten states in this process. Progress reports were approved for six Western Balkan states \u2013Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro \u2013 as well as Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. The Progress Report for Turkey, a state with formal candidate status, is still under preparation.<\/p>\n
In the enlargement process, the European Commission provides assessments and recommendations, while formal decisions are approved by the European Council with the unanimous agreement of the member states.<\/p>\n
What was said about Kosovo?<\/strong><\/p>\n Kosovo remains the only country without a recommendation for candidate status from these ten states.<\/p>\n European officials stated on Wednesday that dialogue with Serbia is the way forward for Kosovo\u2019s EU path.<\/p>\n Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, emphasized at a media conference in Brussels that the implementation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities could be a significant step forward for Kosovo.<\/p>\n She said, \u201cI believe it is important for Kosovo to have a very clear goal regarding EU accession, for us to be clear about what we expect from Kosovo. We discussed the implementation of the draft statute for the Association of Serb-majority municipalities when I was in the region, and this implementation would be a major step forward. It is in Kosovo\u2019s interest\u201d.<\/p>\n Although Kosovo has applied for EU membership, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver V\u00e1rhelyi, stated that the Council has not yet requested an opinion from the Commission regarding Kosovo\u2019s application.<\/p>\n He said, \u201cWe are ready to provide our opinion\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOur feeling is that the path to the EU for Kosovo is through a successful dialogue. They need to double their efforts to make the dialogue successful,\u201d V\u00e1rhelyi added.<\/p>\n In Kosovo\u2019s Progress Report, the European Commission stated that Kosovo has made \u201climited progress\u201d in most assessed areas.<\/p>\n The report also highlights the tense security situation in north Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Serbs, and the normalization of relations with Serbia through the EU-facilitated dialogue.<\/p>\n The report expresses regret that Kosovo and Serbia have not begun fulfilling their dialogue-related commitments without preconditions, causing further delays. Kosovo is encouraged to start the process leading to the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. The report now calls for the Association to be established based on the most recent draft-status proposal presented to the parties on October 21, which explicitly states, \u201cKosovo is expected to initiate a process that leads to the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities based on the European proposal presented to the parties on October 21, 2023. Serbia is expected to support this process while simultaneously starting the fulfillment of its key obligations from the [normalization of relations] Agreement. Formalities, including those related to approval, should not be obstacles to progress\u201d.<\/p>\n The Agreement on Normalization reached earlier this year requires parties to develop normal neighborly relations, recognize each other\u2019s relevant documents and national symbols. For Kosovo, the Agreement implies de facto recognition by Serbia, while for the latter, its annexes stipulate that Kosovo should establish an Association of Serb-majority municipalities.<\/p>\n The draft statute presented on October 21 by the representatives of the EU, the United States, Italy, Germany, and France is said to be a modern European model. This document is not public, but Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated that he has accepted it, emphasizing that it was drafted with great care to align with Kosovo\u2019s Constitution.<\/p>\n The report on Kosovo also mentions the departure of Serbs from Kosovo institutions in November of the previous year and their boycott of local elections this year. These actions are considered \u201cviolations of Serbia\u2019s obligations stemming from the dialogue and constitute a setback for Serbia in fulfilling the obligations set out in the first agreement on the principles for the normalization of relations in 2013, presenting direct violations of the 2015 Agreement on Justice\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSerbia is expected to encourage the Serbs of Kosovo to return to institutions immediately, while Kosovo is expected to make this possible. Since November 2022, neither party has taken any steps in this direction,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n Following an escalation of tensions in north Kosovo at the end of May due to the opposition of Serbs to newly elected Albanian mayors, Kosovo enacted legislation enabling citizens to change their municipal mayors through a petition.<\/p>\n The situation in north Kosovo worsened further on September 24 after an armed group of Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Milan Radoji\u010di\u0107, the former deputy mayor of the Serb List, the leading party representing Kosovo Serbs with the official support of Belgrade.<\/p>\n Kosovo blames Serbia for the attack, but Belgrade denies any involvement.<\/p>\n The recommendations and approved reports from November 8 in the European Commission will be on the agenda at the next European Council meeting in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The European Commission recommended the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, while also recommending the start of negotiations with Moldova, provided they meet the remaining conditions. As for Georgia, on November 8, the Commission stated it recommends granting the official candidate status if the stipulated conditions set by the bloc are met. The European Commission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":61031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,165],"tags":[1281,308,2438,150,243,151,5103,326],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n