KOHA: A petition has been initiated in Ukraine for recognition of Kosovo
Ukrainian MP, at the same time also member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Oleksiy Goncharenko, announced on Wednesday that he has launched a petition for Ukraine to recognize the independence of Kosovo, reports KOHA.
In the petition, it is requested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considers the possibility of recognizing Kosovo. It is also mentioned that Kosovo is recognized by powerful Western countries, including the United States, and that the International Court of Justice has ruled that the declaration of independence of Kosovo does not violate international law.
“Russia does not recognize Kosovo and considers those countries as Serbian. At the same time, the Kremlin’s propagandists say that it is necessary to take the same order in the Balkans as Putin did on February 24”, is said among else in the petition.
REPORTERI.NET: EU membership, steps that Kosovo must take
President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Glauk Konjufca today signed the application for Kosovo’s EU membership, reported Kosovo portal REPORTERI NET.
Following the application for membership, there are three main steps. Candidacy or candidate status means formal acceptance of the application of a country. This also implies a unanimous decision of the European Council for the official acceptance of the application of the country. And then the Council and the candidate country must agree on a framework for membership negotiations.
Candidate countries receive both financial and technical assistance during the accession process. The EU budget for pre-accession assistance for 2021-2027 is 14.162 billion euros.
Membership negotiations begin once the candidate country harmonizes its national laws with the EU regulations, called the acquis. And this can last several years.
The country from this point is considered an “accession country” until the official accession date, when it will become a full member of the EU, is said in the news report.
OPINION: The reaction of Vucic following Kosovo’s application for EU membership
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reacted to Kosovo’s first step towards joining the European family, reports OPINION.
“The Kumanovo Agreement, the UN Charter, Resolution 1244, the Brussels Agreement or the Washington Agreement. We have come to the sixth very important document of the EU since 2003, the famous Thessaloniki Agreement, on the expansion of the EU to the Western Balkans.
And in the light of Kosovo’s application for EU membership, my question is whether they will respect the documents they themselves have adopted, and even the historic one from Thessaloniki, because in item 5 of the Thessaloniki document it says that it fully supports the implementation of Resolution 1244. So, my question today is which one of these documents you want to respect and we will absolutely agree”, says Vucic.
Otherwise, Vucic probably refers to the Thessaloniki Declaration that was adopted at the EU -Western Balkans Summit on June 21, 2003.
“We all share the values of democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and minority rights, solidarity and a market economy, fully aware that they constitute the very foundations of the European Union. Respect of international law, inviolability of international borders, peaceful resolution of conflicts and regional co-operation are principles of the highest importance, to which we are all committed. We vigorously condemn extremism, terrorism and violence, be it ethnically, politically or criminally motivated”, reads the first article of the Declaration.
D. Tahiri
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
