EU official says Kosovo on "good path" toward EU integration

Prishtina [Pristina], 4 May: The Director of the EU Commission for Western Balkans, Reinhardt Priebe, said yesterday [ 3 May] in Prishtina that the recent changes in the government had not a negative impact in its work.

"There is a lot of energy and commitment to move forward in fulfilment of main standards and this is very good," Priebe said after the seventh meeting of the Stabilization Tracking Mechanism, which is an EU tailor-made Stabilization Association Process (SAP) for Kosova [Kosovo].

He stressed that the protection of minorities is the main standard, and that there are also other standards, which are key to European integration.

"There is a lot of energy and commitment to move forward in fulfilment of basic standards in Kosovo and this is very good," Priebe said.

The senior international officials in Kosova said during the meeting in Prishtina that Kosova has marked a progress in fulfilment of standards and that it is on good path to resolving its [final] status and towards integration into the EU.

The chief of UN Mission in Kosova, Soren Jessen Petersen, said that the government has proven to the EU institutions that they are committed to its European path, by not allowing the difficult developments of March to delay or obstruct the progress.

"It was confirmed that Kosovo is in the right way to move forward towards the comprehensive assessment of standards in June and status talks in autumn. The standards aim at building of a sustainable multiethnic society, but they are also European values and a roadmap for meeting the criteria to become part of EU," he said.

Source: KosovaLive web site, Pristina, in English 4 May 05