Kosovo progresses to next stage of Council of Europe membership

Kosovo has passed on Monday the first formal stage of joining the Strasbourg-based international human rights body, the Council of Europe.

The Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe decided, with the votes of two-thirds of member states, to forward the request for Kosovo’s membership to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Serbia, which does not recognise the independence of its former province, voted against.

“With 33 votes in favour, seven against and five abstentions, CoE Committee of Ministers accepted Kosovo’s membership application and initiated the accession process by requesting PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) to prepare an opinion on membership,” Kosovo ambassador in Brussels, Agon Bajrami, wrote on Twitter.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti welcomed the news on social media and thanked Kosovar ministers for their work, as well as partners and member states for their ongoing support.

“The Committee of Ministers of the member states, with over two-thirds of the necessary votes, today supported Kosovo’s application to the Council of Europe, thus concluding the first phase of our Republic’s full membership in this important international organisation,” he said.

Kurti added, “Our country will be an added value for the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe will add value to democracy, human rights and the rule of law in our country.”

Kosovo applied for membership in May 2022, two months after Russia was expelled from the council following its invasion of Ukraine. With Russia gone, Kosovo could use as two-thirds of members would recognise their independence, a pre-requisite for joining.

The CoE is the continent’s leading human rights body and has 46 member states, including the EU 27.

Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla described the decision as historical and “maybe the most important since our independence.”

“A lot of work remains to be done. The membership process is long and full of challenges. But at the end of the process, the Republic of Kosovo will take its rightful place as a member of the Council of Europe,” Gervalla wrote on Facebook on Monday.

Congratulations also came from across the border, with Albanian President Bajram Begaj welcoming the news and calling for a speedy accession process.

“I welcome the decision of the Committee of Ministers for the transfer to the Parliamentary Assembly of the legitimate request of Kosovo for membership in the Council of Europe. Congratulations to Kosovo and, as soon as possible, a member with full rights in the Council of Europe!”, Begaj wrote on Facebook.

But Serbia’s President Aleksander Vucic was not happy and launched harsh words against the West.

“We will vote against its membership in the Council of Europe. Don’t lie and cheat,” Vucic said at a press conference.

“That’s all I have to say to those in Europe and around the world who think they have the right to lie and deceive us and interpret things as they see fit, not as written or agreed upon.”, he expressed.

(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)