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The European Union has been imposing aggressive punitive measures against Kosovo since June 2023 in response to a series of tensions and escalations in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo.
The measures include suspending the Stability Association Agreement (SAA), a pre-accession trade agreement signed with Pristina, restricting Kosovo officials from attending meetings with EU officials in Brussels, and suspending EU funding and freezing projects.
These do not include restrictions on activities related to the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Brussels’ attempts to act as an intermediary between the two countries to resolve issues such as tariff bans and mutual recognition of travel documents.
Euronews investigated the impact of these punitive measures.
Petar Djordjevic, chairman of Young Active Gracanica, said the sanctions are mainly a symbolic warning sign and will have limited impact on the ground.
“Many projects continued to be implemented. It was not as strict as when the US withdrew something, but it was felt at all levels of society,” Djordjevic told Euronews.
US joins EU-led political sanctions
In September, the United States announced that it was indefinitely canceling a planned strategic dialogue with Kosovo.
While Washington will not withdraw from participation in the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, or broader U.S. support, certain high-level frameworks that purport to deepen the relationship will be suspended.
“It wasn’t felt as strongly in the case of the EU, but I think these measures were more of a warning to Kosovo than to really hurt Kosovo,” Djordjevic said.
Despite this measure, cooperation between Kosovo and European officials remains uninterrupted, with talks taking place in Pristina, Brussels and at various forums and summits across Europe, he explained.
“I think this is the clearest indication that this measure is not so strict and that there are still efforts to contact Kosovo’s representatives and establish better communication,” said the NGO’s president.
But the Pristina-based think tank Institute for Advanced Study said the move halted projects worth 218 million euros funded by the EU’s Pre-Accession Assistance Authority (IPA). A total of €7.1 million has been permanently lost due to missed deadlines.
Funding from a growth plan of more than 300 million euros has also been called into question. For this reason, authorities in Pristina are calling for the lifting of what they call unjust sanctions.
“Countries that are 100% aligned with the European Union should be rewarded, not those that have chosen Moscow as their path forward,” Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani said, alluding to the political leadership in Belgrade, which has refused to impose sanctions on Russia because it followed a policy of neutrality even after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kurti insists on pro-EU policy despite Brussels’ cold treatment
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said: “We have always demanded that Kosovo be freed from unjust punitive measures, be granted candidate status and receive the questionnaire with thousands of questions as soon as possible.”
Prime Minister Kurti insisted he would eagerly comply with Brussels’ demands on pre-accession related issues “because the European Union has no alternative and does not want an alternative”.
Brussels demands, among other things, that in order for the measure to be lifted, Pristina changes its policy towards Kosovo’s Serb community and implements all agreements with Belgrade, including the creation of a Serb Municipality Association, which Mr. Kurti is reluctant to do.
This was also highlighted in this year’s European Commission report on Kosovo’s progress towards EU membership.
“The next step depends on sustained de-escalation in the north,” said Aivo Olaf, the EU’s ambassador to Kosovo.
“The Commission intends to further lift these measures conditional on the orderly transfer of local governance in the north. This should take place after local elections and détente must be maintained,” Olaf explained.
Brussels’ punitive measures represent a major change in the country’s approach to resolving conflicts in the Western Balkans, and similar sanctions have never been applied to other EU-hoping countries in the region.
These measures remain in effect because, as stated by Brussels, Kosovo has not taken sufficient steps to de-escalate tensions and change the circumstances that led to their introduction.
In December 2024, the Council of the EU adopted conclusions on the gradual lifting of the measures.
However, the process is slow and, as stated at the time, subject to further action by Pristina.