Kosovo plans to formally apply for EU membership in the coming days to show European capitals that it is serious about reforms and moving closer to the bloc. Politico reports..

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However, the EU accession process is notoriously lengthy and requires years of regulatory change as well as economic and judicial reforms.. And the case of Kosovo is particularly difficult for the EU. Five bloc countries - Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain - still do not recognize Kosovo's independence.

Bislimi said he knows it will be some time before Kosovo is ready for membership, but has named 2030 as the target date..

The EU, he says, "

Country's application for membership could come at a tipping point for the EU. For many years, the expansion process has stalled, many countries have expressed fatigue. But Russia's war against Ukraine has created new momentum for maintaining Brussels' geopolitical influence as EU capitals grow increasingly concerned about losing their neighbors to Moscow's influence..

In recent months, the EU has focused its attention on the Western Balkans, offering the region a future more integrated with the EU and promising to revive the drive to join.

One of Kosovo's strengths, according to Bislimi, is its young population, which is " The Vice Prime Minister also expressed optimism that his country will be able to quickly implement economic changes..

“In my opinion, a lot of the entrepreneurial spirit that you see in Kosovo will make these economic reforms easier for us to a certain extent,” he said..

But Bislimi also acknowledged significant challenges, in particular the adoption of EU rule of law standards..

“In the area of \u200b\u200bthe rule of law, it is not so easy because of the long period of stagnation,” he noted, adding that “resistance” from those who failed to implement new reforms is much higher in the justice system than in the economic system..

Regarding the controversial issue of recognition, Bislimi said that the current non-recognition by the EU, in the end, will not become an obstacle to Kosovo's accession to the European Union.

" we believe that by that time we will be ready to resolve all those disputes that prevented these countries from recognizing Kosovo, and then this issue will no longer be needed,” he said..

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Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but the two countries remain in a tense standoff that flares up periodically.. The EU is engaged in a dialogue between countries that has not brought much progress in recent years.

But Bislimi said there is a way forward after Brussels recently put forward an updated proposal.

“We hope to begin this important and intensive process of intermediate normalization very soon.. We will call it a basic treaty - a treaty that can bring a solution to most of the disputes between Kosovo and Serbia, but does not necessarily mean full normalization,” Bislimi said..

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, even a partial agreement with Serbia could help pave the way for Kosovo's rapprochement with the EU and increase the chances of full normalization in the future..

“I think that the very idea of \u200b\u200bthis interim step could be enough to demonstrate the commitment of the parties to these skeptical countries and move them towards recognition,” Bislimi added..