Kosovo wants to join the European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR), a forum in which ten countries co-operate on transport, tourism and environmental protection projects, and hopes that Croatia will support it.
The ten countries, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Albania and San Marino, met in Tirana on May 16-18, where they adopted a joint statement calling for enlargement. of the EU in the Western Balkans.
A Kosovo delegation led by the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi was in Tirana at the time and did not attend the meeting, but met with representatives of the European Commission.
Speaking about Hina, Krasniqi said that the Adriatic-Ionian initiative can be complete only when all countries are members.
“This initiative offers exchange opportunities and mutual benefits in tourism, green agenda and mobility, which is important for all countries. It also offers the European perspective. “It is legitimate for us to be part of this,” he said.
For Kosovo to join EUSAIR, the consent of all member states is required, but Serbia is blocking this.
A European Commission official who took part in the Tirana talks said on condition of anonymity that Kosovo had applied for membership, but its government understood that it would have to wait for the situation to normalize. He also added that EUSAIR could be expanded.
In Tirana, the Kosovo and Serbian delegations did not meet.
“We will reaffirm our desire to join EUSAIR at the heart of our agenda. We will try to negotiate it. Kosovo should not be denied the right to be part of this. The idea of this initiative is inclusion, not exclusion and isolation. We are confident that Croatia will support Kosovo’s aspirations. “We hope to officially become a partner during the Croatian presidency”, said Krasniqi.
The meeting in Tirana was attended by the State Secretary of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andreja Metelko-Zgombic.
She said that the meeting did not discuss Kosovo’s membership in EUSAIR and added that Croatia’s interest and position was for Kosovo to be involved in all initiatives, including international organizations.
“I hope that in the near future Kosovo will be able to take a step in that direction,” she said.
