Keynote Address by
H.E. Hashim Thaçi
President of the Republic of Kosovo
Welcome:
Dr. Thorsten Klaßen
Chief Operating Officer, DGAP
Commentator:
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger
Chairman of the Munich Security Conference
Chair:
Milan Nič
Senior Fellow, Robert Bosch Center for Central and,
Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia, DGAP
Ten years after declaring its independence, Kosovo has become a key factor for stability and security in the Western Balkans. It has done so despite the fact that its international status is still being contested by Serbia and a number of other countries, including five EU members. However, ten years on, this youngest state in Europe also continues to face important challenges: the integration of ethnic Serbs in the northern part of the country into Kosovo institutions, the fight against corruption, the need to strengthen the rule of law and the economy as well as the resolution of bilateral disputes. Tangible progress in these areas stands at the center of the new EU enlargement strategy which was recently introduced by the European Commission and will be adopted at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia on May 17. A few weeks ago, the Kosovar parliament approved a border demarcation deal with Montenegro and thereby met a final EU condition for gaining a visa-free regime for its citizens.
At this exclusive event for DGAP members, which will be held in English, the President of Kosovo, H.E. Hashim Thaçi, will discuss his expectations for the EU summit. Also available will be his new biography “New State, Modern Statesman – Biography of Hashim Thaçi” by Roger Boyes, Suzy Jagger, which was published in the U.K. in 2017.
