Kosovo is one step closer to EU accession
The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Union and Kosovo is to come into force, after the European Parliament voted on the proposal on the 21st of January. In the opinion of RMDSZ MEP Csaba Sógor the agreement deals with minority protection issues only in general terms, which is not enough as experience shows.
The SAA was negotiated between October 2013 and May 2014, it was initialled in July 2014 and the Council of the EU agreed to its signature on 22 October 2015. The Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo ratified it on the 2nd of November. With the vote of the EP on Thursday, the procedure is now complete, which results in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement coming into force. This brings Kosovo one step closer to the EU accession.
The document establishes a contractual relationship between Kosovo and the EU, providing new forms of enhanced political dialogue, closer trade integration and cooperation. The Agreement covers a number of areas such as: reinforcing democratic principles and human rights and cooperation in education, energy, environment, justice and home affairs.
"I join those encouraging the remaining five member states of the EU, including my own country Romania, to recognise Kosovo" – stated RMDSZ MEP Csaba Sógor. He pointed out that the successful European integration of Western Balkan countries will not be possible without a reassuring response to the issue of indigenous ethnic minorities living there and a clear and enforceable set of criteria in the matter.
"We can see many abuses in the application of minority protection laws in the existing EU Member States while the EU does not want to play any role in this area, despite the fact that it affects 40 million EU citizens" – the MEP stressed, adding that Albanians in Kosovo know exactly what it means to be a minority, and it is in their hands now to offer a reasonable co-existence strategy to the Serb minority living in Kosovo.
