Çollaku: Kosovo cannot get the status of a candidate for the EU membership without the recognition by five countries

The former Minister for the European Integration, Bekim Çollaku, said that it was impossible for Kosovo to receive the status of a candidate for the EU membership, without prior recognition of Kosovo’s independence by five EU member states, Klan Kosova reports.

"No one is preventing Kosovo from applying for the status of a candidate for the EU membership. But formal application and obtaining membership status are two completely different situations," Çollaku said.

He pointed out that every action of Kosovo should be coordinated with the European Union and its member states.

"It is impossible for Kosovo to get the status of a candidate for EU membership without removing the main obstacle that has to do with the necessity of Kosovo's independence recognition by the five EU states that have not yet done so," Çollaku said.

When asked whether Kosovo would get the right to start negotiations for the EU membership, Çollaku said that Kosovo was far from that stage.

"Kosovo is far from the commencement of the EU membership negotiations. At this stage, we are only talking about the possibility of taking the first step, that is, submitting a request for the status of a candidate country and nothing more," he said.