U.S. Secretary of State\u00a0Marco Rubio\u00a0stated that NATO enlargement to include\u00a0Kosovo\u00a0is not currently a top priority for the alliance’s member states. However, he emphasized that this does not mean such membership could not happen in the future.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rubio also said that the United States supports the Italian candidate for the position of High Representative in\u00a0Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressing confidence that he would perform the role effectively and contribute to regional stability.<\/p>\n
Rubio was responding to questions from\u00a0Keith Self, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Europe, who recently visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo. During the hearing, Self described the situation in the Western Balkans as \u201cextremely fragile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Self noted that an unresolved issue remains between\u00a0Serbia\u00a0and Kosovo and urged Rubio to advocate for Kosovo\u2019s NATO membership in discussions with the four NATO member states that do not recognize Kosovo\u2019s independence and therefore block its accession to the alliance.<\/p>\n
Rubio replied that, based on his meetings with NATO foreign ministers, the alliance is currently focused on other priorities. He said that enlargement, particularly in Kosovo\u2019s case but also in other cases, is not at the forefront of discussions among NATO allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not mean it will never happen,\u201d Rubio said, adding that Kosovo\u2019s membership \u201chas not been a major topic in recent conversations with our NATO allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kosovo aims to join both\u00a0NATO\u00a0and the\u00a0European Union. However, countries that do not recognize its independence, declared in 2008, continue to pose obstacles to its Euro-Atlantic integration.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Keith Self, together with fellow members of Congress\u00a0Ritchie Torres\u00a0and\u00a0Mike Lawler, has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives supporting Kosovo\u2019s NATO membership. The resolution argues that Kosovo\u2019s presence in the alliance is essential for protecting U.S. national security interests in Southeast Europe.<\/p>\n
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U.S. Secretary of State\u00a0Marco Rubio\u00a0stated that NATO enlargement to include\u00a0Kosovo\u00a0is not currently a top priority for the alliance’s member states. However, he emphasized that this does not mean such membership could not happen in the future. Speaking during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rubio also said that the United States supports the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":85043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,1803],"tags":[243,151],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n