Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti submitted a bid for Kosovo to join the European Union on Thursday, launching a process that could take years, if not decades and is dependent on it normalising relations with neighbouring Serbia.

Kurti presented the application in Prague to the Czech Republic, holders of the EU’s rotating presidency.

“We want no back door, no fast-track. We want to build the EU in our country with our people,” Kurti said after handing the application to Czech European Affairs Minister Mikulas Bek.

“We firmly believe that a European future is the only way to solve a number of problems in the region, whether economic, social or ethnic,” Bek said.

Kosovo is not a member of the United Nations, and five EU states – Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus – have refused to recognise its statehood.

Its independence is recognised by around 110 countries but not by Serbia, Russia or China, among others.

Kosovo still needs to normalise relations with Serbia before it can join the EU. The bloc is working on a deal it hopes both parties will agree to within a year.

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