Council of Europe does not confirm Kurt dates, says there are still steps under way for membership

Following the decision to implement the Constitutional Court's act on the properties of the Decani Monastery, the Council of Europe has confirmed that the chairman of the Commission for Political Affairs has accepted the verbal grade by the Government of Kosovo in connection with recent development.

But, unlike the statements by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, by the Council of Europe, they said the dates have not yet been set for the meetings on the Kosovo membership issue of the Council of Europe, because, according to them, the date cannot be set without the debate at the Council of Europe's assembly.

“It is not possible to have the final date for this, as there are several steps in the process. The assembly can continue with debate and voting on this issue only after the Commission for Political Affairs has approved its draft-opinion and two other commissions have given their views”- said Council of Europe Deputy Chief of Communication Division Agnus Macdonald.

So the Council of Europe answered the question of KALLXO.com on whether the dates presented by Prime Minister Albin Kurti remain for the time before meetings for Kosovo are scheduled.

Prime Minister Kurti said on March 22nd that it is the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Europe Committee.

“...on the middle of April is the KiE Parliamentary Assembly and in late May is the Council of Ministers in the KiE that decides for our membership”- Kurti said.

In response to the Council of Europe, the only date that has been scheduled so far is March 27th, in which a meeting for the political affairs of the Assembly in Paris is scheduled, in which Kosovo rapporteur Dora Bakoyannis aims to present her report containing a draft-opinion.

“Sic knows, after the Assembly has given its statuteial opinion, any final decision on Kosovo's* application for membership is taken by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers”- Macdonald told KA LLXO.com, referring to Kosovo with the introduction that has been put to Kosovo through a dialogue agreement with Serbia in Brussels, to enable representation in regional conferences and initiatives, but also the wider international level.

Prime Minister Kurti, after giving the news that he has asked Kosovo's Cadastral Agency to start implementing the constitutional act, reasoned on the move by saying it was the key condition for Kosovo membership in the Council of Europe.

We tried on March 5th for the last time to postpone the approval of the opinion on membership on the Committee in question, but without success. We are convinced that we have to choose an option, there is no third solution”- Kurti said.

Among other things, Kurti said that as prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo, he does not like this decision, as he calls it strange and unfair.

There are other pending court processes in the meantime, as we as Government no longer have legal and legal means to annul the Constitutional Court's decision”- Kurti said.

Among other things, Kurti said the Government has been made clear by the Parliamentary Assembly Committee, by the main political groups in the Parliamentary Assembly representing the parliaments of member states, by the QUINT states, that we must choose between two options: to implement the Constitutional Court's decision and allow us to move away with membership in the KiE this year, or to remove the Kosovo issue from the membership agenda.

In 2023, independent experts from the Council of Europe confirmed that Kosovo's legislation complied with the Council of Europe's standards of rule of law.

In the assessment report, experts, who are committed by the Council of Europe Assembly to assess whether there is any compliance with Kosovo's legal framework with the Council of Europe standards, ask authorities to implement “without delay the Constitutional Court's decision in the Decani Manastr case”.

The expert report is part of the analyses that will be assessed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe before Kosovo's application for membership is put to the polls.

For eight years since the Constitutional Court's ruling, Kosovo's 19.05.2016 governments had not implemented this Constitutional Court ruling, respectively, becoming an international community critic of Kosovo.

In April 2023, after an extraordinary meeting, the Ministerial Committee decided to submit the application for Kosovo's membership to the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.

The Council of Europe has 46 members, out of 47 in advance of Russia's expulsion, and its accession is done with votes of 2/3 of the majority.

Officially, the process of assessing Kosovo's app by the Council of Europe's Ministerial Committee began in the same month of 2023.

The Council of Europe is an international human rights organisation, democracy and rule of law in Europe, headquartered in Strasbourg, France.

This organisation plays an important role in the process of expanding the European Union by supporting countries interested in carrying out reforms in line with human rights standards, democracy and the rule of law, as long as these reforms are necessary for closing enlargement.

Kurt releases Pee, gives orders to give properties to Decani Monastery