Kosovar Prime Minister Kurti visits Vienna – Austria

After a reception with military honors, Corti will meet Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) at a business meeting in Vienna. Both presidents want to confront the press. In the evening, Corti takes part in the discussion of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES) in the Western Balkans at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna.

Kosovo formally applied for membership in the European Union in December. The main obstacle is that five EU member states – Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus – do not recognize Kosovo. Even Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence to this day. In 2008, with the support of the West, Kosovo declared its independence from Belgrade. After violent tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, Kurti called for a stronger NATO protection force presence in his country. The NATO-led protection force KFOR currently has about 3,800 members, including more than 400 soldiers from the Austrian army.