The European Union said it will sign next Tuesday a long-awaited accord with Kosovo on closer ties which could open the way to membership for the small Balkan country.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after years of tensions following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said top officials will sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement in Strasbourg, home to the European Parliament.
"Once implemented, it will bring more economic prosperity, legal certainty, government accountability and political stability to the people of Kosovo," Kocijancic said.
A Stabilisation and Association agreement is the first key step for non-EU countries on the long road towards membership of the bloc, which currently groups 28 nations.
It requires the country concerned to ensure that its governance and civil society norms -- for example on human rights and the judiciary -- are brought up to EU standards.
Diplomatic sources told AFP that some member states had reservations about Kosovo's rights record but felt it was better to have them on board than not.
"Let us be frank -- they have made some progress but not at all as much as we would have liked," one diplomat said.
Serbia refused to recognise Kosovo after its breakaway and championed the rights of its large Serb minority but 23 of the 28 EU member states, plus the United States and many others did so.
Anxious to ensure stability in its neighbourhood, the EU brokered a normalisation accord between Kosovo and Serbia in 2013, clearing the way for membership talks with Belgrade and an SAA with Pristina.
The two sides initialled the SAA in mid-2014.
The EU is preoccupied by the situation in the Balkans, which has become a key route for migrants and refugees fleeing war in the Middle East and North Africa. Kosovo itself is a major source of migrants into the EU.
The EU admitted most of the former Communist states of eastern Europe in 2004 and 2007 but the Commission, its executive arm, has made clear that no new members will be admitted for the next five years.
Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Turkey are EU candidate countries.
Croatia, another former Yugoslav entity, was the last country to join the bloc, in 2013.
The European Union said it will sign next Tuesday a long-awaited accord with Kosovo on closer ties which could open the way to membership for the small Balkan country.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after years of tensions following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said top officials will sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement in Strasbourg, home to the European Parliament.
“Once implemented, it will bring more economic prosperity, legal certainty, government accountability and political stability to the people of Kosovo,” Kocijancic said.
A Stabilisation and Association agreement is the first key step for non-EU countries on the long road towards membership of the bloc, which currently groups 28 nations.
It requires the country concerned to ensure that its governance and civil society norms — for example on human rights and the judiciary — are brought up to EU standards.
Diplomatic sources told AFP that some member states had reservations about Kosovo’s rights record but felt it was better to have them on board than not.
“Let us be frank — they have made some progress but not at all as much as we would have liked,” one diplomat said.
Serbia refused to recognise Kosovo after its breakaway and championed the rights of its large Serb minority but 23 of the 28 EU member states, plus the United States and many others did so.
Anxious to ensure stability in its neighbourhood, the EU brokered a normalisation accord between Kosovo and Serbia in 2013, clearing the way for membership talks with Belgrade and an SAA with Pristina.
The two sides initialled the SAA in mid-2014.
The EU is preoccupied by the situation in the Balkans, which has become a key route for migrants and refugees fleeing war in the Middle East and North Africa. Kosovo itself is a major source of migrants into the EU.
The EU admitted most of the former Communist states of eastern Europe in 2004 and 2007 but the Commission, its executive arm, has made clear that no new members will be admitted for the next five years.
Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Turkey are EU candidate countries.
Croatia, another former Yugoslav entity, was the last country to join the bloc, in 2013.
