EC approves proposal to sign SAA with Kosovo

EC approves proposal to sign SAA with Kosovo

PRISTINA -- Head of the EU Office in Kosovo Samuel Zbogar says the adoption of the proposal to sign the SAA "is an important step in EU-Kosovo relations."

"Today's approval of the SAA (Stabilization and Association Agreement) by the European Commission is an important step in relations between the EU and Kosovo. Now it is up to the EU Council and the European Parliament to agree before the SAA is signed and comes into force in early 2016," said a statement issued by Zbogar on Thursday.

He added that "once the SAA enters into force, it will be the first contractual relationship between the EU and will strengthen Kosovo's position in the EU policy towards the Western Balkans."

The president of the assembly in Pristina, Kadri Veseli, said that "the adoption of the SAA" is "confirmation of Kosovo's road towards the European Union."

"This important day confirms our commitment to a just road along which we are going, we are confident that this new chapter of our history will be a guideline for new successes," he wrote on Facebook.

Veseli also "congratulated the people of Kosovo, international partners and all stakeholders in the process for their extraordinary work, which represents a clear confirmation of the state commitment Kosovo to the future."

"Our road is now confirmed and it only remains to ackle the work on the implementation of this agreement. It will be a long road, but I am convinced that together we will succeed," he wrote.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci also took to Facebook to express his "satisfaction and joy because of the adoption of the SAA for Kosovo," the Beta agency reported.

"The next...