The Republic of Kosovo has officially applied for membership of the European Union (EU). The corresponding document was signed by President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Speaker of Parliament Glauk Konjufca on Wednesday in the capital Pristina.

For the youngest state in Europe, it was a rather symbolic act: EU membership is currently not within reach for the country, which has been independent since 2008.

So far only "EU accession perspective"

Formally, Kosovo only has an "EU accession perspective". The candidate status that Bosnia-Herzegovina is to receive on Thursday is also not up for debate. The main obstacle to EU rapprochement is that five EU member states - Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus - do not recognize Kosovo.

The country, which is now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, used to belong to Yugoslavia or Serbia. After the Serbian security forces repressed the Albanian civilian population, NATO bombed targets in what was then the rest of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in spring 1999. The Serbian security forces and state organs left Kosovo. The UN mission UNMIK took over the administration and the creation of Kosovar institutions.

In February 2008, the Kosovar parliament declared independence. More than 100 countries, including Germany, but not Russia, China, Serbia and the five EU countries recognized the new state. To this day, Serbia has not renounced its claim to the territory of Kosovo. At the same time, it repeatedly stirs up tensions in the northern part of the country, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Serbs.