US senator sets conditions for Kosovo to join NATO

Two US senators have said Kosovo must implement the peace deal with Serbia if it is to realize its goal of joining NATO.

“The roadmap for Kosovo to join NATO and the European Union (EU) has to be a peace agreement with Serbia. That’s the reality,” said Senator Chris Murphy, member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaking to the press at the US Embassy in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, on May 22.

Mr. Murphy and Congressman Gary Peters, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Kosovo and Serbia to swiftly implement the peace deal reached by the two sides in March, with the EU as the mediator.

Kosovo announced its separation from Serbia in 2008 with Western backing. However, this breakaway region did not get a seat at the United Nations, due to objections from Russia and China. Kosovo is also not recognized by the four NATO members, Romania, Spain, Greece and Slovakia.

According to Mr. Murphy, other members can convince the four countries to accept Kosovo if the disagreement between the breakaway region and Serbia is resolved. “That depends on how the peace deal is implemented,” he said.

Soldiers of the NATO Kosovo Peacekeeping Force (KFOR) in the town of Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, on December 29, 2022. Photo: Reuters

With the mediation of the EU, Kosovo’s chief executive, Albin Kurti, and Serbian President, Aleksander Vucic, reached an 11-point agreement on February 27 in Brussels, Belgium.

Under the agreement, the two sides maintain good neighborly relations and recognize each other’s documents, such as passports and license plates. Serbia will not oppose Kosovo’s membership in any international organization.

However, the deal has not made significant progress on the ground, especially in northern Kosovo, where an estimated 50,000 Serbs do not recognize the government in Pristina. Instead, they are politically loyal to Serbia, which still provides them with financial support.

The US is strongly supporting Kosovo both politically and financially. NATO has deployed around 4,000 troops to Kosovo, including 600 US troops, to maintain peace in the region.

Kosovo early last year urged NATO to speed up the territory’s admission process and urged the US to deploy a permanent military base there. However, all NATO leaders said admitting Kosovo was impossible when faced with objections from four alliance members.