Kosovo is ready to take on greater responsibility in Euro-Atlantic security and now it is NATO’s turn to act, President Vjosa Osmani said on Sunday, calling for the alliance to open its doors to her country.
Speaking at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Osmani said NATO remains the backbone of collective security and a symbol of hope for future generations, recalling the alliance’s 1999 intervention in Kosovo and its role in ending the war in Bosnia with the 1995 Dayton Agreement.
“At a time when people were facing their darkest hours, NATO fulfilled its mission,” Osmani said.
She described the transformation Kosovo has undergone since the conflict: “From children afraid to attend school, to youth now studying at the world’s top universities; from parents expelled from jobs, to grandparents watching a prosperous new generation; from dangerous roads to cities alive with music, art and culture.”
Peace, she said, is more than the absence of weapons—it is the will to live together.
Osmani underlined Kosovo’s commitment to regional and global security, noting that the country currently allocates 2% of its GDP to defence, with plans to double that figure in the coming years.
“We are ready to do our part. Now it’s NATO’s turn to open its doors,” she said.