Navarro: Spain will not support Kosovo's candidacy for EU membership; it is not a country

Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union Pascual Navarro said today before the Joint Commission for the EU in the Senate that Spain did not recognize Kosovo and would therefore vote against any procedural decision and granting candidate status to Kosovo, Klan Kosova reports.

He further explained that after Kosovo had officially applied for membership to the current Czech Presidency, a "procedural decision" had to be made, which he assumed would come during the Swedish presidency of the EU Council from January 2023.

The normal thing, said Navarro, was to seek the opinion of the European Commission, then discuss it in the General Affairs Council and finally decide in the European Council.

"The government will not support the candidacy under the current circumstances and this position has not changed," Navarro stressed.

Navarro pointed out that the Government of Spain "has a constructive position" on the issue of the Western Balkans and that it supported the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade and the mediation of the EU, and that it supported the liberalization of visas for Kosovo, which although "is not a state, is a territory with which the EU has relations".

Spain is one of five EU countries, along with Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Slovakia, which does not recognize Kosovo's independence.