Ireland’s EU Presidency – By Kosovo’s Side

Op Ed by Ragnar Almqvist, non-resident Ambassador of Ireland to Kosovo

Football, the beautiful game, can be cruel. After heroic campaigns, Ireland and Kosovo both came agonisingly close to qualifying for the World Cup. But this autumn, at least, we can look forward to our teams and fans – amongst the world’s most colourful – meeting for the first time in the Nations’ League. Whatever the result, it will reinforce a friendship between nations that, through history, have suffered more than our share of defeats, but always emerged stronger.

Before then, Ireland has another goal. We assume the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the 8th time on 1 July. Our Presidency’s slogan is an old Irish proverb – ‘‘Ní neart go cur le chéile’’, in unity, strength. Our aim, in a time of geopolitical turmoil, is to reaffirm the EU’s greatest asset, our unity, and inject new urgency into efforts to deliver for our citizens.

Across our six-month term, working with the European Commission, Parliament and others, we will strive to deliver three interlocking priorities. We want to speed work on restoring EU competitiveness and reenergising our economies. We want to strengthen our collective security. And we want to reaffirm the values at the EU’s core – democracy, rule of law, and fundamental rights.

Our ambition is great. But this article is short. Our programme at www.Ireland2026.EU details the many policies we will progress to deliver that agenda. Here, I want to reflect on what matters most to Kosovo.

As small nations whose independence was hard won, Ireland and Kosovo have long shared a kinship. We have much in common – great diasporas, rich cultures, and this continent’s strongest public support for the EU. As people, we share a recognition that, while times may change, our core values cannot. That’s why Ireland has been so steadfast in our support for Ukraine – a key priority for our Presidency. And why Ireland, which joined the EU in its first expansion half a century ago, remains amongst the strongest advocates for enlargement today.

We know where Kosovo’s convictions lie. Pristina’s Mother Teresa Boulevard is bookended by blue and yellow banners. While one affirms Kosovo’s support for Ukraine – which we greatly value - the other affirms that the EU is ‘‘by your side’’.

Ireland was amongst the first EU states to recognise Kosovan independence. Ever since, distant as we are geographically, we have been by your side, backing Kosovo in affirming its place in Europe and the wider world. Our Defence Forces have served with KFOR for over a quarter century, promoting peace and stability. Irish experts across EU in Kosovo, EULEX, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and others support your institutions in reinforcing rights and rule of law. Most recently, on our Government’s initiative, we have established new educational partnerships, cultural exchanges, and expert training programmes. Ireland does much more, of course, as part of the EU, Kosovo’s strongest and most reliable partner – backing almost €4 billion in grants since 1999 and, through the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, allocating almost €900 million by 2027 to speed your integration with EU partners.

We can and will do more bilaterally. But ultimately, Ireland wants to see a day when we and the EU are not only by Kosovo’s side. But Kosovo – and all Western Balkan states – are with us in the EU. We consider enlargement a core EU value, as well as an investment in our continent’s peace, prosperity and security. Our Presidency will work with candidate and potential candidate countries to support their accession path, in line with the merit-based process. As Commissioner Kos has stressed, there is new momentum to enlargement now. We must capitalise on it. Our Presidency will focus especially on Albanian and Montenegro, hoping the latter can close remaining chapters this year to become the EU’s 28th state in 2028. But we will also back partners across the region and build on recent historic progress by Ukraine and Moldova.

None of this will be easy. For Kosovo, whose application for candidacy is yet to be accepted by the Council, the challenges are clear. As Presidency, Ireland will engage with EU institutions and our fellow member states to advocate on your behalf. But there are no open goals in EU enlargement. If Kosovo is to make progress, political leaders must convince all 27 partners and, following the example of your remarkable footballers, show real ambition in pursuing the goal.

What does that mean in practice?

After three democratic and inclusive elections in under two years, it means making the cross-party compromises needed to deliver political stability, elect a President and deliver the Reform Agenda. Consistent with the Constitution, it means recommitting to the rule of law, respecting the judgment of Courts, as our footballers do referees, even – perhaps especially – when we disagree with them. It means actively preserving the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo and building bridges that connect communities, not divide them, recognising that there are times when devolving power is the best way to amplify it. Finally, it means delivering on the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and implementing in full the Ohrid Agreement – recognising, as President Costa stressed last month, that normalisation is essential for the European future of both Kosovo and Serbia. 

Compromise is hard. But the rewards can be great. We know this in Ireland. Securing peace in Northern Ireland, after decades of brutal conflict, demanded great patience, and even greater compromises from the British and Irish Governments and, above all, from local leaders and the communities they represented. Almost three decades after the Good Friday Agreement, it remains a work in progress. But, while we should be careful of equating one context with another, if there is a lesson to be drawn from that experience, it is that with patience and perseverance, with the courage to be creative, dialogue can deliver. We hope that the new Government, when constituted, will recognise that.

Visiting his ancestral home in 1963, President John F Kennedy famously called Ireland ‘the first of the small nations’. We see Kosovo as a member of that same club. For nations such as ours, there are no easy paths, neither for World Cup qualification nor international recognition. But as our footballers – and others at this World Cup – have shown, small nations can do great things. On and off the pitch, I hope to see Kosovo and Ireland prosper in the months ahead.