On March 16, Group for Legal and Political Studies organized a Roundtable Discussion on the topic “The European Perspective of Kosovo on the basis of the Enlargement Strategy: What should Kosovo do in the coming years?”, held in Prishtina. The aim of this event was to discuss the promotion and enforcement of the rule of law in the Western Balkans, particularly in Kosovo. The panel also shared their views in regard to Kosovo’s position vis-a-vis the EU Enlargement Strategy, with a particular focus on the reforms needed in the upcoming years. Furthermore, they had the chance to discuss the current government’s approach towards this Strategy, its implications and the overarching Kosovo’s European perspective.  At the beginning of the discussion, GLPS presented the country analysis entitled “EU’s Benchmarking Mechanism on ‘Fundamentals First’: Results and Challenges”. This analysis  studies the effectiveness of the EU’s benchmarking system on a selected policy issues pertaining to ‘fundamentals first’. This analysis also p uts forward a set of recommendations on how to improve the benchmarking mechanism of the conditionality policy. This event is part of the Think and Link Regional Policy Programme, supported by the European Fund for the Balkans and Open Society Institute, under the umbrella of Think for Europe Network (TEN).

Panelists:

Ms. Fitore Pacolli – Member of the Committee on European Integration, Kosovo Assembly;

Ms. Venera Ramaj – Policy Advisor on Rule of Law at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Kosovo;

Ms. Albana Rexha – Author of the Report and Research Fellow at Group for Legal and Political Studies;

Ms. Albana Merja – Research Fellow at Group for Legal and Political Studies.

Venue: EU Information and Cultural Centre in Prishtina