Kosovo submits formal request to join the EU, Serbia angry

By KAREL JANICEK
Associated Press

PRAGUE (AP) — Kosovo’s prime minister has formally submitted his country’s application to be granted candidacy status for membership in the European Union, a first step in a long process to eventual membership. Prime Minister Albin Kurti handed over the application Thursday to Czech Minister for European Affairs, Mikulas Bek, whose country holds the EU presidency. But for Kosovo, the latest country in the Western Balkans to apply to join the 27-member bloc, to have a place in the EU is a distant goal. It is locked in a long-lasting dispute with another EU hopeful Serbia, while five EU countries have not recognized Kosovo’s as a nation at all. Serbia reacted with anger to Kosovo’s EU application.