Prishtina, 02.07.2026 – The highest political decision-making body of the Energy Community met this week in Prishtina for the Informal Ministerial Council. Hosted by the Ministry of Economy, the meeting brought together Energy Ministers of the Energy Community, where it prepared the ground for prioritizing initiatives that shape the region’s trajectory towards accelerated energy integration with the European Union.

This year’s discussions took on added importance against the backdrop of Europe’s ongoing response to recent energy market shocks, with security of supply and competitiveness emerging as central themes driving integration efforts between the European Union and the Energy Community.

Kosovo’s Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, stated that the Republic of Kosovo has taken over the Presidency of the Energy Community with a clear commitment: to support decisions that increase security of supply, accelerate integration with the European Union and protect energy affordability for our citizens and businesses. “The challenges before us are regional, and so must be the solutions”.

Minister Rizvanolli announced that Kosovo continues to face a very worrying issue, which requires immediate action, as Serbia is preventing the commercial use of the interconnection with Kosovo, overloading transmission capacities in Kosovo and neighbouring countries and imposing a heavy burden on countries in the region, especially Kosovo consumers.

“In December 2025, the Ministerial Council of this Energy Committee that gathered today, obliged the Transmission Operator of Serbia to make its capacities available for trade no later than 1 July 2026. Now we are here, Serbia has not only not met this deadline, but has not taken any preparatory steps to implement its obligation. The Transmission Operator of Serbia continues to refuse direct discussions with our operator KOSTT”, said Rizvanolli.

Director of the Unit for Relations with Member States and the Energy Community (DG ENER), Yolanda Garcia Mezquita, stressed that “we are advancing one of the most strategic priorities of the European Union: EU enlargement, not only as a political objective, but as a geostrategic investment for the peace, stability and security of Europe. Closely linked to this is the acceleration of the integration of the Energy Community Contracting Parties into the EU’s single energy market, bringing our partners closer to the European Union”.

With legislative convergence in the gas and electricity sectors approaching, ministers focused on the political and regulatory issues that will define the region’s role as an integrated energy partner of the European Union. In the electricity sector, as many contracting parties are nearing the completion of the transposition of the Electricity Market Integration Package, the region is moving closer to integration with the European Union’s single electricity market.

Getting ahead of this milestone through a coordinated regional electrification effort could significantly increase the weight of the Energy Community within Europe’s energy order. The conditions for such an effort are, in many respects, already in place; the region benefits from relatively competitive electricity prices and significant renewable energy potential, both of which make a compelling case for promoting electrification in sectors such as heating and transport.

Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Artur Lorkowski, stressed that “electrification is our advantage in the pre-accession period and we must use it. By acting together now in the heating and transport sectors, we will build economies based on access to affordable and local energy”.

Regarding the gas sector, while European Union Member States will be obliged to implement cross-border network codes across all borders as of 5 August, a parallel effort towards mutual implementation by the Contracting Parties of the Energy Community is helping to create the conditions for more predictable and diversified gas flows. Such regulatory harmonisation will be particularly important as preparations for the possible adaptation of REPowerEU within the Energy Community framework are making progress. In this context, the Secretariat has commissioned a study to assess the implications of phasing out Russian gas in the region, which suggests that this can be achieved without compromising security of supply or affordability.