Next Kosovo leader sets sights on EU membership

The winner of Kosovo's general election over the weekend urged Brussels to come up with a "mini Marshall Plan" for the Western Balkans on Monday to boost the region's economy.

Albin Kurti, who's expected to become Kosovo's prime minister , called on the EU to do "what the U.S. did for Western Europe after the Second World War."

He said the six countries in his region had a combined GDP that was less than half of that of the Czech Republic.

Kosovo will prepare to apply for candidate status of the 27-member bloc, Kurti said.

Kurti's left-wing Self-Determination Movement won 48% of the vote in Sunday's poll.

That left it far ahead of the center-right Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, which won 17% and the conservative governing Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, which captured 13% of the vote.

Kurti stressed that he was also seeking good relations with the United States.

He said he would like to invite Kosovars in the diaspora back home, in an attempt to "replace brain drain with brain gain."

(Image Credit: AP)