Is Kosovo ready for membership in the Council of Europe?

The legislation adopted and implemented according to the principles of rule of law and standards and human rights norms is essential to meeting the membership criteria in the Council of Europe, says Kosovo Institute for Justice Executive Director (IKD) Ehat Miftaraj.

Kosovo on 12 May has applied for membership at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg.

Foreign Affairs and Diaspore Minister Donika Grovalla has said that the decision to apply to the Council of Europe, Kosovo has taken it in due time and believes the country will join this mechanism.

So far we have not faced any reliable resistance, which suggests that the process may be endangered. Of course, we will respect all procedures, we will be very sincere, very committed and serious throughout this process. And, we hope that Kosovo to meet those states that it took a shorter time to join the Council of Europe”, has stressed Gervala, on 13 May, at a media conference in Pristina.

The application for EC membership is considered by the Committee of Ministers, and after reviewing the situation in Kosovo, the final word is given by the Parliamentary Assembly, which consists of national representatives of member states. The admission takes place with the vote of 2/3 of the majority.

Ehat Miftaraj says some of the criteria Kosovo has met several years earlier, but former People's Avokat, Hilmi Jashari, considers that the country can face challenges on the road to membership.

According to Miftaright, the Kosovo Constitution stipulates that power sharing is clear and has high guarantees in respect for human rights and freedoms.

The aim of the Council of Europe is for the state, with the Constitution and the laws, to guarantee the principles of rule of law, the division of powers and respect of human rights and freedoms.

Fortunately, Kosovo with the Constitutions not only respects human rights and freedoms, but in many cases exceeds them, in terms of positive discrimination of non-US communities. Powers are also divided”, assessing Miftaraj.

The state powers in the Republic of Kosovo are legislative, executive and judicial powers. The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo exercises legislative power. The government exercises executive power in accordance with the Constitution and laws. While, judicial power is unique, independent, and exercised by courts.

Also, under the Constitution, fundamental human rights and freedoms are insecurable, incompatible and incompatible, and are the basis of the law order of the Republic of Kosovo.

The minority communities known with the Constitutions in Kosovo are: the Serb community, the Bosniak, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Goran and Turkish. Two official languages at the country level are Albanian and Serbian, while under the Law for Use of Languages, Turkish, Bosnian and Roma have the status of official languages in municipalities where at least five percent of those communities live.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, each member of communities has the right to express, advance and freely develop respective identity and attributes as a community. Under the Constitution, from 120 seats in the Assembly, 20 are reserved for non-US communities, 10 for the Serb community and 10 for other communities.

Among other things, the Constitution says that the Republic of Kosovo will promote the spirit of tolerance, dialogue and support reconciliation among communities and respect the standards set out with the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional Languages or Minorities.

And, in the event of violations of their rights guaranteed by law by administrative or judicial bodies in the country, Miftaraj says that Kosovo citizens after accession to the Council of Europe will be able to address the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg.

What is the European Court of Human Rights?

The European Court of Human Rights is an international court established in 1959. It rules for the individual or state requirements claiming civil or political rights violations, defined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Since 1998, the court has been working full - time and individuals may directly complain to it.

The court considered hundreds of thousands of requests since its establishment. Its judgments are binding and have caused governments to change their legislation and administrative practice in various areas.

The court has headquarters in Strasbourg. From here, the Court monitors respect for the human rights of 830 million Europeans in the 47 Council of Europe member states that have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.

Yasar: Membership Roads to Face Challenges

But, former ombudsman Hilmi Jashari says there are problems in the justice system, especially in procrastinating judicial procedures.

The competent authorities must make the necessary reforms so that when the moment for EC membership comes, they will be prepared, as according to him, they have time to minimize current problems.

Where is Kosovo member?

Kosovo has applied for membership in the Council of Europe on 12 May. So far it has become a member of several international organisations, including the most important financial and sports ones.

However, Jashar considers that this would pose no problem for membership in the Council of Europe.

There can be no mathematical account to assess the level of respect for human rights and freedoms. But we have obvious problems. The level of judicial system is known as being able to deal with citizen subject treatment”, he points out.

The number of outstanding substances in the justice system by the end of 2021, according to the Kosovo Institute for Justice, is over 220 thousand.

Jashari estimates that the very fact that a large number of international conventions -- including the Council of Europe conventions dealing with human rights and freedoms -- have been implemented in Kosovo -- show that Kosovo can membership in this mechanism.

Kosovo has pledged since the end of the war, because the European Convention, the Convention for Protection of Minority and the Convention on Torture, has introduced them into its legal system and has voluntarily implemented”, he says.

Even though Kosovo is not a member state of the EC, according to the GAP Institute for Advanced Investigations it applies some of the Council of Europe's Conventions as: The European Convention on the Protection of Human Foundation Rights and Freedoms, Framework of the Council of Europe Convention on Protection of National Minorities, European Charter of Regional and Minorarian Language.

Also, many laws of the Kosovo Assembly and regulations of the United Nations Organisation Mission (UNMIK) refer to specific conventions of the Council of Europe.

What do the international reports on Kosovo say?

In the World Human Rights Report in 2021, the US State Department said that in Kosovo important issues of these rights included reliable reports of: serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence or threats of violence to journalists; serious government corruption and crimes involving violence or violent threats against ethnic minorities or other marginalised communities.

According to the UN, the Government took steps to identify, investigate, prosecute and punish officials who committed human rights violations, but sometimes there was no stability in actions.