Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in an interview with "Politico" that NATO accession is more urgent for Kosovo than European integration, the Kosovo newspaper "Koha Ditore" reported, quoted by BTA.
"I see (Kosovo's) NATO membership as more urgent than European integration. EU accession takes time (...), but I think NATO is more necessary for the region. NATO membership for us would mean being secure, of course the reason (for this) is Serbia and Russia. I think Russia has an interest in destabilizing the Western Balkans and Europe. It is not giving up on this. (...) I think it is in NATO's strategic interest to expand to the Western Balkans, especially (towards) Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo," Osmani said from Berlin on November 14, quoted by the publication.
According to Osmani, Kosovo has fulfilled the criteria for NATO membership and has spent over 2 percent of GDP on defense, and in the next four years, investments in this area will be doubled.
The Kosovo president said that if his country were in NATO, Serbia would never dare to commit acts of aggression.
Osmani added that Kosovo has no other alternative than the Euro-Atlantic path, emphasizing that despite the reforms undertaken and the synchronization of its foreign policy with that of the EU, its European path is blocked.
Kosovo has long aimed to join the EU, but remains the only country in the Western Balkans that does not yet have the status of a candidate country. The country applied for EU membership in late 2022, but its bid has stalled due to a lack of consensus among the 27 members, as five EU countries - Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain - do not recognize Kosovo's independence.