[WATCH] Malta will 'lend expertise' to Kosovo's EU accession bid

Kosovo president wants further economic cooperation with Malta

Malta will “offer its expertise” to Kosovo for its EU membership accession bid, president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca pledged.

“Malta is in favour of Kosovo’s EU accession, and it will afford its longstanding expertise in institution building [to Kosovo], such as by providing training to its public official,” Coleiro Preca said at a joint press conference at San Anton with Kosovo president Atifete Jahjaga.

Jahjaga noted that Malta was among the first countries to recognize Kosovo as a sovereign country in 2008.

“Kosovo is eternally grateful and we want Malta’s support to consolidate out statehood,” she said. “Kosovo has a clear European perspective, and we are dedicated to improving our international standing, even to help out in the global fight against extremism.”

MEPs in January ratified a stabilisation and association agreement between the EU and Kosovo, a first formal step for the eastern European country’s accession into Europe.

Its accession bid is supported by all 28 EU member states, except for Spain, Romania, Greece, Cyprus, and Slovakia who believe that Kosovo’s EU integration would create instability in the Balkans.

Jahjaga’s two day visit to Malta is the latest in a series of high-level visits between the two countries. Both Coleiro Preca and foreign minister George Vella visited Kosovo in the past two months.

Earlier today, the Maltese and Kosovan chambers of commerce signed a memorandum of understanding to improve business relations between the two countries.

Jahjaga said that two agreements between Malta and Kosovo are in the pipeline – a double taxation treaty and a protection of investment agreement.

Some Maltese businessmen will also be invited to an upcoming investment conference in the Kosovan capital of Pristina.