Kosovo aims to join NATO's Partnership for Peace program in 2023

BELGRADE, Serbia

Kosovo aims to become a member of the NATO alliance's Partnership for Peace program in 2023, its foreign minister said Friday.

Briefing parliament on the year almost finished and her ministry's goals for 2023, Donika Gervalla Schwarz voiced optimism about Kosovo's membership in the program, which is a prerequisite for NATO membership.

She added that the ministry's main focus is to work on five EU member states that have not yet recognized Kosovo’s independence: Spain, Slovakia, the Greek Cypriot administration, Romania, and Greece. All but the Greek Cypriot administration also belong to NATO.

''As for new recognitions, there is no new recognition on the table, but there is activity on this issue. I cannot explain the steps here. Serbia has campaigned for the non-recognition of Kosovo, but we have no information about the withdrawal of recognition,'' said Gervalla.

She added that the Council of Europe – a separate institution from the EU – will soon put Kosovo's application for membership on its agenda.

Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. It aspires to EU membership and aims to gain a visa-free regime for the EU zone.

But Serbia has not recognized Kosovo’s independence and sees its former province as its territory.

Kosovo is also not a member of the United Nations and it is among a handful of countries in Europe outside the EU’s visa-free regime.