In a meeting with a group of European People’s Party (EPP) MEPs, Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said Kosovo is committed to fulfilling all its obligations from the European agenda underlining that Kosovo’s only way forward is the Euro-Atlantic integration. Haradinaj briefed the EPP members, Andrey Kovatchev, Asim Ademov, and Elmar Brok, on Kosovo’s progress in the field of rule of law, initiative for public administration reform, and furthering of good neighbourly relations. He also spoke of the need for Kosovo and Serbia to conclude the dialogue.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday addressed reporters before their meeting in Berlin.

Merkel, who spoke first, stressed the importance of the talks conducted in Brussels between Serbia and Kosovo, adding that close cooperation and discussion was important in the process of EU integration.

According to her, Serbia has undertaken encouraging reforms. Merkel commended the Serbian prime minister for this.

Kosovo’s Minister of European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, said in a meeting with Bulgarian Ambassador, Nedialtcho Dantchev, that Kosovo needs to be given a timeline regarding its EU integration and also be included in all enlargement initiatives. “There is consensus on the integration aspect in our country. It is regrettable that Kosovo is the last in Balkans in the process. Any strategy dealing with Western Balkans integration would not be complete and make sense without Kosovo,” Hoxha said.

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said today at a conference organised by the Balkans Policy research Group that the government's goal was to create conditions for Kosovo to apply for EU candidate status in 2018. Haradinaj also called on the EU to intensify bilateral relations with Kosovo and that there was no alternative to Kosovo's European perspective. Haradinaj however admitted there were challenges in implementation of Kosovo institutions' decisions. "We face many challenges in implementation of decisions.

In a meeting with the head of the EU Office in Kosovo and Special Representative Nataliya Apostolova, Kosovo’s Minister for European Integration Dhurata Hoxha formally submitted Kosovo’s Country Report. Hoxha emphasized the importance of the report as a key instrument through which the EU can measure progress made by Kosovo institutions since the last report in 2016. Hoxha also spoke of the commitment of Kosovo institutions to push forward the European agenda.

In a meeting today, the government of Kosovo discussed implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said all relevant institutions should work hard to make sure Kosovo receives EU candidate status by 2019. “We have identified key priorities for 2018,” said Haradinaj explaining that these include the European Reform Agenda and groundwork for candidate status by 2019. “Our goal is to prove that we are taking the work seriously, especially European integration,” Haradinaj noted.

EXCLUSIVE / Serbia and Montenegro are seen as the two Western Balkan frontrunners to join the EU but Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić told EURACTIV.com in a wide-ranging interview that joining the soon-to-be 27-country bloc is a matter of endurance and not a competition.

“For Serbia, joining the EU is like a marathon,” Brnabić told EURACTIV. “When you run a marathon you are not competing against anyone else but yourself. In that sense, I don’t think any country should be bothered by who is the front or second runner.”

Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) called upon all political stakeholders to state their opinion on the EU conditions, adding the time has come to Serbia to get out from the vicious cycle of the European integration and focus on regulating its own society, freed from the Brussels tutoring, Serbian media reported.