PRISTINA (AA) - Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said Monday that his country eyed to begin "as soon as possible" negotiations regarding the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union.
Speaking in Pristina on Monday after the first meeting of Kosovo's SAA negotiation team, Thaci said the opening of the SAA talks will mark a historical moment for Kosovo on its path toward the EU.
"The SAA will be the first ever contractual agreement which offers a clear EU perspective for Kosovo," Thaci said.
SAA agreement, a pre-accession deal between the union and an EU hopeful country, is aimed reforming the aspiring country's legislation to meet EU standards.
Head of Kosovo SAA negotiation team, Minister of European Integration Vlora Qitaku, said that the government expects to open the SAA talk as early as this autumn, and to complete them in spring next year.
"The Negotiation team will have a mandate to lead, at the political level, talks and to offer clear political framework for the technical part of it,“ Qitaku said, adding that the negotiation will be held in several phases, the first one being on trade.
The negotiation team includes Kosovo's foreign minister, ministers of trade and industry, minister of agriculture, wood and rural development, minister of finance, minister of economic development and minister of justice.
This February, European Commission issued a report concluding that Kosovo needs to make rapid reforms in the rule of law, the protection of minorities, administrative capacities and trade to allow for the launch of the SAA talks.
The Council of the European Union authorised the European Commission to open negotiations on signing an SAA with Kosovo on June 28.
