From the German Bundestag say Kosovo hand over EC membership application before May 20th

Following the German government's encouraging response to support Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, the next step would be for Kosovo to hand over its app, best yet, in order to be discussed at the upcoming session of the Committee of Ministers in Turin on May 20th, said Knut Abraham, German Bundestag deputy.

On Wednesday (day) Abraham, deputy from the CDU/ CSU, through its Twitter account, gave a thrilling news to Kosovo after publishing the German government's positive response to its question: é “if it supported a Kosovo application for membership in the Council of Europe.

Germany's “government supports Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. It is important, therefore, to remain in close co-ordination with our partners in the European Union and the Council of Europe”, says the response of the German government, which MP Abraham published.

Abraham told Kosovo priss that Kosovo must apply to use the moment the Council of Europe presidency currently leads Italy, a strong ally of Kosovo.

Kosovo has a strong ally and should seize this opportunity to take the first step. After an application is submitted, together with our allies in the Council of Europe by all political factions and member states, we will be involved in favour of Kosovo's membership, becoming the 47th member of this important institution”, he said.

The Council of Europe is the oldest human rights institution in Europe to unite democracies from all over the continent to protect human rights. Abraham said granting Kosovo citizens access to the European Court for Human Rights would be a positive step for Kosovo, the Western Balkan region and Europe and therefore deserves our full support”.

He said that in Germany, politicians from various political groups strongly support Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe.

“As CDU/ CSU, I can tell you that my party stands completely behind Kosovo on this issue. German delegation to the Council of Europe chief Frank Schwabe, my colleague from the Social Democrats, is also publicly defending such a step. From the German delegation to PACE have voiced support to Konstantin Kuhle from the Liberals, Max Luces from the Green, but also Minister of State Tobias Lindner. I believe Germany, as one of the largest members of the Council of Europe, along with European allies like Italy, can play a leading role to help Kosovo in this process”, Abraham said.