EU welcomes appointment of Kosovo’s new premier

BRUSSELS

The European Union on Tuesday welcomed the appointment of Albin Kurti as Kosovo’s new prime minister.

“I look forward to intensifying our discussions and cooperation on European Union-Kosovo relations, on reforms and on the EU-facilitated Dialogue,” Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief said in a statement.

On Monday, Kosovo’s parliament approved Kurti as prime minister after parties reached an agreement as a result of four months of coalition negotiations.

The previous Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj had stepped down due to war crime allegations.

Acknowledging that Kosovo was facing “significant” challenges, Borrell said: The EU is ready to assist the country in “strengthening the rule of law, improving public administration to deliver services that the population deserve, and creating jobs and growth.”

However, Borrell pointed out that the relations between Kosovo and Serbia need to be improve. “There is no alternative to a rapid resumption of the normalisation talks between Belgrade and Pristina,” he stressed.

Kosovo’s new coalition government is composed of six groups that represent Turks, Bosniaks, Serbs, and other ethnic minorities.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade insists the country remains part of Serbia. Since then, tensions have persisted between Kosovo’s ethnic-Albanian majority and a small Serb minority in the north.

Kosovo’s independence is recognized by over 100 countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Turkey.

Serbia, Russia, and China are among the countries which have not yet recognized its independence.