The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday adopted a report praising Kosovo’s achievements in its fight against corruption and organized crime and management of migration and welcomed Kosovo’s ongoing alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy.
The report adopted by 44 votes for, 8 against and 3 abstentions welcomed the declarations of support for Kosovo’s application for EU membership by ten EU countries as well as the long-awaited agreement on granting visa liberalization to the citizens of Kosovo.
The Committee urged the EU member states that have not yet recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state, notably Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Romania, and Greece, to do so without further delay.
The independence of the Republic of Kosovo is irreversible, stressed the report.
It added that the pace of Kosovo’s EU membership process will depend on progress on the rule of law and fundamental rights and the normalisation of relations with Serbia.
Today’s report will now be submitted to a vote in the European Parliament as a whole in May.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.
Meanwhile, a separate report adopted by the Committee today said EU membership negotiations with Serbia should advance only if the country aligns with EU sanctions against Russia and makes significant progress on EU-related reforms.
Noting some progress in the fight against corruption, the report stresses the fact that more demonstrable effort and political will by Serbia is needed to achieve tangible results, in particular with regard to serious and organized crime.
The report was adopted by 43 votes in favor, 5 against and 6 abstentions.
Source: Kuwait News Agency
