On 21 February 2008, just a few days after Kosovo’s Proclamation of Independence on 17 February, Italy, in coordination with its main international partners and in line with the great majority of EU countries, recognised the Republic of Kosovo and established diplomatic relations with Pristina.
From the outset, Italy has played a leading role in KFOR, the NATO-led mission established in 1999 under UN mandate to ensure security and stability in Kosovo. Italy is currently the leading contributor, with more than 800 specialised units on the ground, expressing so far 13 out of its 28 commanders.
Also significant is its presence in EULEX, the EU’s civilian “European Union Rule of Law Mission”, of which Italy is currently expressing the Head of Mission.
The exchange of visits and meetings between the two countries has always been intense. To limit to the recent past, on 23 January 2023, the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, received the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, at the Presidential Palace Quirinale. She was also received by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the fringes of the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU-Western Balkans Summit on 13th December 2023, after having been welcomed few months earlier, on 14th April, at the Farnesina Palace by Antonio Tajani, both Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The latter also met his counterpart, Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, on several multilateral occasions, including in 2024 at the regular ministerial meetings on the Western Balkans and of the “Friends of the Western Balkans” group, as well as during his first mission to Pristina in November 2022, together with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto. Contacts between members of the parliaments of the two countries are also frequent. A delegation from the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence came to Pristina on 8 September 2023; a delegation from the Chamber of Deputies Committee on Foreign Affairs visited Pristina on 29 and 30 April 2024.
Since Kosovo’s Proclamation of Independence, Italy has supported the EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, considering Brussels’ mediation to be crucial in achieving a lasting solution acceptable to both sides. The ultimate goal remains to reach a comprehensive and legally binding agreement covering all key aspects of relations between the two Balkan countries, such as: the status of Kosovo, the protection of minorities, economic and cultural heritage issues, in the conviction that this agreement would represent an important step forward in the European integration of the Western Balkans. This would occur in full coherence with the Italian vision of an enlarged and stable Europe, in which the countries belonging to the area can benefit from the advantages of EU membership.
(Updated on 24/06/2024)