Kosovo applied to join the European Union four years ago, yet it is still waiting for EU candidate status. Prime Minister Albin Kurti says the holdup lies with the European Council, and that his government has fulfilled every requirement asked of it.

Why candidate status is still pending

Kurti says Kosovo is the only country in Europe left without candidate status, and he puts the blame on the European Council.

Kurti says Kosovo stands ready to answer thousands of questions in the EU questionnaire - which has not yet been sent - and hopes to receive candidate status within weeks or months.

He argues his government has already done the work:

• •rule of law
• •the fight against corruption
• •transparency
• •freedom of the press
• •electoral and liberal democracy

The five non-recognisers

Kurti attributes the stalled process to internal dynamics in the EU Council, pointing to the five members that do not recognise Kosovo's independence: Spain, Cyprus, Romania, Greece and Slovakia.

He says Kosovo has increased its collaboration with those five countries and has asked them to join the 22 EU members that do recognise Kosovo. Progress, he argues, is coming incrementally: Spain recognises Kosovo's passport, and the status of Kosovo's office in Athens has been elevated.

According to Kurti, the non-recognisers operate on the formula of 'diversity in recognition, but unity in engagement', meaning they do not block Kosovo's steps towards the EU even without recognising the state.

Merit-based path and the Commission's reservations

Kurti rejects any suggestion that Kosovo should be waved through. "We want no shortcuts, no back door, no fast track; we want a merit-based process", he says.

Even without full recognition, Kosovo has already secured two key milestones: the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and visa liberalisation.

The European Commission, however, still has serious reservations about some of Kosovo's reforms, particularly on judicial independence. Kurti accepts that criticism of the judiciary and prosecution, saying reforms have begun, including a bureau for the verification and confiscation of inexplicably obtained wealth. He adds that the EU process of opening and closing chapters and clusters would help greatly in reforming not only the judiciary but also the public administration.

Relations with Serbia after its election

Serbia held an election in which former president Aleksandar Vucic lost his parliamentary majority.

Kurti says it is too soon to tell whether a new chapter in Pristina-Belgrade relations can be opened, but Kosovo's position is clear: it wants full normalisation of relations with Serbia centred on mutual recognition.

Kosovo, he says, is an independent democratic republic, and the sooner Belgrade acknowledges this, the better it will be for relations between the two countries and for Serbia's own path towards the European Union.