Germany was one of the first countries to officially recognise and establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Kosovo after the country declared its independence in 2008. Furthermore, the Government and people of Kosovo have not forgotten that Germany took in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Kosovo before and during the 1998/99 conflict, or that from 1999 onwards it helped with reconstruction efforts, initially through emergency relief measures and shortly afterwards by commencing development cooperation.

In addition, there is a Kosovar diaspora in Germany with a total of more than 350,000 Kosovars who make up the world’s largest Kosovar diaspora.

Germany is actively supporting the country in its efforts to integrate into Euro-Atlantic structures.

The German soldiers (KFOR), police officers, judges, public prosecutors and civilian experts (UN‑led mission UNMIK, EU rule of law mission EULEX and OSCE‑led mission OMiK) deployed in the country as part of international missions have helped to further strengthen the good relations between the two countries.

Germany is one of Kosovo’s principal trading partners and investors and also one of the largest bilateral donors in the field of development cooperation. Since 1999, Germany has provided more than 660 million euro for technical and financial cooperation projects.

There has been a Goethe-Zentrum in Pristina since 2018. In addition, the German Embassy in Pristina handles a substantial portion of the cultural work, including scholarship and further-education programmes, concerts and exhibitions. Along with English, German is the most widely spoken foreign language. Indeed, the German language and German culture are popular in Kosovo, as demonstrated by the annual Days of the German Language, for example. A cultural agreement entered into force in 2013, placing cultural exchange on an official footing under international law.

Information about German development cooperation with Kosovo can be found on the website of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.