Foreign relations of Kosovo

Foreign relations of Kosovo are accomplished by efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo. Kosovo operates 33 embassies abroad and is host to 22 embassies in Pristina. Kosovo has membership in several international organisations.

On 17 February 2008, members of the Assembly of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. This move was controversial among the international community. International supervision over the direction of the assembly ended in September 2012,^[1] and Kosovo became responsible for its own governance.^[2] The Republic of Kosovo has been recognised by 118 UN member states, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Cook Islands, and Niue. Serbia and other member states consider Kosovo as an autonomous region of Serbia.

The current Foreign Minister of Kosovo is Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz.

Status of diplomatic relations

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo has initiated the process of establishing diplomatic relations with all states that have recognised Republic of Kosovo, either by opening new missions or through accreditation of non-resident ambassadors to these countries.^[3]

Diplomatic relations

#	Country[4]	Date
1	United States	18 February 2008
2	France	18 February 2008
3	Albania	18 February 2008
4	Turkey	18 February 2008
5	United Kingdom	18 February 2008
6	Germany	20 February 2008
7	Austria	28 February 2008
8	Denmark	6 March 2008
9	Monaco	19 March 2008
10	Sweden	28 March 2008
11	Switzerland	28 March 2008
12	Belgium	10 April 2008
—	Nauru (suspended)	23 April 2008
13	Estonia	24 April 2008
14	Italy	15 May 2008
15	Slovenia	15 May 2008
16	Australia	21 May 2008
17	Bulgaria	27 May 2008
18	Latvia	11 June 2008
19	Hungary	27 June 2008
20	Netherlands	27 June 2008
21	Czech Republic	16 June 2008
22	Croatia	30 June 2008
23	Lithuania	1 September 2008
24	Norway	25 October 2008
25	Ireland	11 November 2008
26	Finland	2 February 2009
27	Japan	25 February 2009
28	Palau	25 March 2009
29	Canada	7 April 2009
30	Maldives	16 April 2009
31	Saudi Arabia	7 August 2009
32	North Macedonia	18 October 2009
33	New Zealand	9 November 2009
34	Montenegro	15 January 2010
35	United Arab Emirates	27 April 2010
36	Mauritania	14 September 2010
37	Honduras	2 December 2010
38	Qatar	7 January 2011
39	Oman	4 February 2011[5]
40	Malaysia	23 May 2011
41	Luxembourg	16 June 2011
42	Saint Lucia	19 August 2011
43	Andorra	14 September 2011
44	Malta	22 September 2011
45	Portugal	14 November 2011
46	San Marino	3 May 2012
47	Iceland	15 May 2012
48	Liechtenstein	28 June 2012
—	Ghana (suspended)	4 October 2012
49	Burkina Faso	6 December 2012
50	Dominica	12 December 2012
51	Kuwait	16 January 2013
52	Niger	25 January 2013
53	Pakistan	27 January 2013
54	Fiji	13 February 2013
55	Djibouti	19 May 2013
56	Jordan	5 June 2013
57	Guyana	13 June 2013
58	Afghanistan	17 June 2013
59	Panama	28 August 2013
60	Federated States of Micronesia	19 September 2013
61	Costa Rica	23 September 2013
62	Grenada	25 September 2013
63	Marshall Islands	28 October 2013
64	Thailand	22 November 2013
65	Senegal	14 February 2014
66	Bahrain	12 March 2014
67	Gabon	19 March 2014
68	Tanzania	2 April 2014
69	Libya	5 May 2014
70	Vanuatu	19 May 2014
—	Togo (suspended)	27 July 2014
71	El Salvador	10 October 2014
—	Solomon Islands (suspended)	27 April 2015
—	Cook Islands	18 May 2015
72	Comoros	28 May 2015
73	Somalia	28 May 2015
—	Niue	23 June 2015
—	Sierra Leone (suspended)	24 November 2015
74	Saint Kitts and Nevis	4 March 2016
75	Belize	29 April 2016
76	Malawi	21 July 2016
77	Ivory Coast	24 August 2016
78	Gambia	22 September 2016
79	Singapore	1 December 2016
80	Tuvalu[6]	2016
81	Brunei	20 February 2017
82	Samoa	10 June 2017
83	Bangladesh[7]	16 February 2018
84	Barbados[8]	9 March 2018
85	Chad[9]	27 May 2018
86	Liberia[9]	27 May 2018
87	Guinea-Bissau[10]	10 June 2018
88	Antigua and Barbuda[11]	24 July 2019
89	Colombia[12]	1 October 2019
90	Guinea[13]	20 June 2020
91	Israel[14]	1 February 2021
92	East Timor[15]	9 March 2022
93	Tonga[16]	17 April 2024

Consular relations

#	Country	Date
1	Poland	8 November 2022[17]

Membership in international organisations

International Organisation	Political Entity Represented	Application date	Admission date	Status
During United Nations administration
Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI)	UNMIK		[when?]	Observer[18]
South East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO)	Kosovo*[19][20]		11 June 2004[21]	Member
Energy Community	Kosovo*[22][23]		1 July 2006	Member
European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)	UNMIK		30 November 2006	Member
Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)	UNMIK	6 April 2006	26 July 2007[24]	Member
After the Declaration of Independence
International Monetary Fund (IMF)	Republic of Kosovo	10 July 2008[25]	29 June 2009[26]	Member
World Bank (WB)	Republic of Kosovo	10 July 2008[27]	29 June 2009[28]	Member
Adriatic Charter	Kosovo*[29]	29 March 2012[30]	2012[31][32][33]	Observer
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD)	Republic of Kosovo[34]	2010 or 2009[35][when?]	17 December 2012[36]	Member
Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)[37]	Kosovo*[38][39][40]		23 February 2013[41]	Member[42]
Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB)	Republic of Kosovo		14 June 2013[43]	Member
Venice Commission	Republic of Kosovo		13 June 2014[44]	Member
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)	Republic of Kosovo[45]		29 November 2014[46]	Observer
South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP)	Kosovo*[47]		23 May 2015[48]	Member
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)	Kosovo*		28 January 2016[49]	Observer
Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units	Republic of Kosovo		1 February 2017[50]	Member
World Customs Organization (WCO)	Republic of Kosovo		3 March 2017[51]	Member
Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)	Republic of Kosovo	6 November 2015[52]	5 January 2016[53][54]	Member
European Qualifications Framework Advisory Group (EQF)	Republic of Kosovo		18 December 2015[55][56][57]	Member
International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA)	Republic of Kosovo		21 February 2017[58]	Member
Bureau of International Expositions (BIE)	Republic of Kosovo		18 March 2017[59]	Member
Assemblée parlementaire de la francophonie (APF)	Republic of Kosovo		9 July 2018 [60][61]	Observer
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)	Republic of Kosovo	9 October 2018 [62]	11 October 2018[63]	Associate
European Political Community (EPC)	Kosovo*		6 October 2022[64]	Member
International Commission on Missing Persons	Republic of Kosovo		19 July 2023[65][66]	Member
NATO Parliamentary Assembly	Kosovo		24 March 2024[67]	Associate

Ongoing applications

Enver Hoxhaj, Kosovo's Minister of Foreign Affairs during 2011–14 and 2016–17, stated in November 2013 that the country was considering making applications for membership in three United Nations specialized agencies in the first half of 2013,^[68] and that an application for membership of the Council of Europe in 2014 was being prepared.^[69] Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi reiterated the state's desire to join in December 2014.^[70] Kosovo is also preparing a membership application for the World Trade Organization.^[71] Joining NATO's Partnership for Peace is a priority of the government.^[72] Hoxhaj said in 2014 that Kosovo's goal is to be a full UN member state by 2020 and a NATO member state by 2022.^[73][74] On 15 December 2022 Kosovo filed a formal application to become a member of the European Union.^[75]

International Organisation	Political Entity Represented	Application date
Council of Bureaux (CoBx)	Republic of Kosovo	2011[76]
NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP)	Republic of Kosovo	July 2012[77]
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)	Republic of Kosovo	April 2015[78]
Council of Europe (CoE)	Republic of Kosovo	12 May 2022[79]
European Union (EU)	Republic of Kosovo	15 December 2022[80][81]

Names used to represent Kosovo

Map of the Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo is represented under the name:

• "Republic of Kosovo";
• "Kosovo*" (with an asterisk),

depending on the particular international forum. A list is set out above. The name "Republic of Kosovo" is self-explanatory and is the preferred nomenclature of the Pristina Government. The name "Kosovo*" with an asterisk is used in other fora. Where this name is used, the asterisk is linked to a footnote which reads:

This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ opinion on Kosovo Declaration of Independence.^[82][83][84]

This "Kosovo*" designation was the outcome of an arrangement agreed to between Pristina and Belgrade in talks mediated by the European Union. This arrangement, which has been dubbed the "asterisk agreement" was agreed in an 11-point arrangement agreed on 24 February 2012.^[85]

"UNMIK" is an acronym for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, which has joined several organizations on behalf of Kosovo.

International treaties and conventions

International treaty or convention	Political Entity Represented	Signature	Ratification
Free Trade Agreement with Albania	UNMIK	7 July 2003[86]	1 October 2003[87]
Free Trade Agreement with North Macedonia	UNMIK		2 February 2006[87]
Free Trade Agreement with Croatia	UNMIK	28 September 2006[87]	1 November 2006[87][88]
Free Trade Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina	UNMIK	19 October 2006[87]	1 December 2006[87][88]
EU Pan-EURO-MED RoO convention[89]	Kosovo under UNSCR 1244
Free Trade Agreement with Turkey	Kosovo	27 September 2013	1 September 2019[90]
Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU	Kosovo	22 October 2015[91]
UK/Kosovo: Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement	Kosovo	20 December 2019
EU Schengen Area non-visa agreement[92]	Kosovo	26 April 2023 [93]
13 agreements and declarations with Albania	Kosovo	6 July 2023 [94]

See also

• International recognition of Kosovo
• Membership of Kosovo in international organizations
• List of diplomatic missions of Kosovo
• Membership of Kosovo in international sports federations
• International Court of Justice advisory opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence
• Kosovo–Serbia relations
• Bosnia and Herzegovina–Kosovo relations
• Visa policy of Kosovo
• Foreign relations of Yugoslavia

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