In the region, Kosovo has been ranked last in terms of progress in the European integration process, according to research findings. This is attributed to the ongoing parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was stated at the regional roundtable titled \u201cRegional Overview: Where Does the Region Stand in Chapter Cluster One of the EU?\u201d, organized by the Kosovo Law Institute (KLI), together with the Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance from Albania and the Center for Investigative Journalism (SCOOP) from North Macedonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Executive Director of KLI, Ehat Miftaraj, said there is a lack of political will to establish functional institutions after elections and to prioritize European integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnfortunately, as stated in the report, Kosovo is the last country in the Western Balkans in terms of the European integration process. It has become a trend for Kosovo to organize free and democratic elections. We are leaders in the Western Balkans and in Europe in this regard. Elections are accepted by all political parties and welcomed by international partners, but afterwards we do not have the political will to translate institutions into functional ones that would prioritize European integration,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Albania, the Executive Director of CSDG, Arjan Dyrmishi, added that for a state to be successful, it must properly control its finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a project that we in Albania started implementing in 2021, in response to the change in the EU accession methodology and the division into cluster chapters. The idea has been to closely monitor Albania\u2019s progress in relation to this cluster. The engagement methodology shows that the first cluster includes six chapters. If a state does not properly control its finances, it cannot be successful. Statistics on how success is measured include public procurement and justice and security. These are the fundamental elements of the state,\u201d<\/em> Dyrmishi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From North Macedonia, SCOOP Director Goran Levkov said the situation is discouraging in Western Balkan institutions when it comes to meeting all standards and criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the region must move forward together toward EU membership, building the capacities of organizations, society, and people to go through this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNorth Macedonia has been waiting in the accession \u2018room\u2019 for perhaps the longest time; maybe only Turkey has waited longer. Kosovo is just starting this process, but what we must realize in the end is that we need to move forward together as a region. We need to build the capacities of organizations, the capacities of society, and the capacities of people to go through this process. When we listen to politicians, they constantly say there is no goodwill from the European Union for enlargement, that this or that is missing. But when we look at the conditions in our institutions to meet all the standards and criteria we must pass, then the situation is much more discouraging there,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Levkov said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the region, Kosovo has been ranked last in terms of progress in the European integration process, according to research findings. This is attributed to the ongoing parliamentary elections. This was stated at the regional roundtable titled \u201cRegional Overview: Where Does the Region Stand in Chapter Cluster One of the EU?\u201d, organized by the Kosovo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":83053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[301,296],"tags":[955,343,1232],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83052"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83054,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83052\/revisions\/83054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}