The KiE Committee mentions the situation in the north: The threat of violence is great, security also depends on normalisation of reports

Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe would be the catalyst for “Kosovo to continue making progress in strengthening human rights, democracy and rule of law, as well as addressing the challenges and issues of concern”, the Committee for Policy and Democracy said.

As for establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities, in the committee's announcement after the March 27th meeting was said that it should be a “commitment after membership for Kosovo” that would help ensure protection for the rights of Serbs in Kosovo, and in terms of expropriation of property in the north, the Committee said they should be carried out “by respecting the law” and in full compliance with the Ahtisaari Plan.

Through the announcement, the Committee also said that it is aware of “of the deterioration of the security situation in northern Kosovo”, stressing that “the risk for violence in Kosovo is large” and that security depends on the protection of the Serbian community's rights, the escalation of tensions and the normalisation of reports with Serbia”.

In view of the number of Council member states, which do not recognise Kosovo as a state, the Committee called for “diplomacy, dialogue and compromise”, calling on the Committee of Ministers to ensure that Kosovo's membership is done without “prejudices on the positions of individual states in terms of Kosovo's citizenship”.

The Council of Europe's Policy and Democracy Committee decision was welcomed in Kosovo.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Kreshnik Ahmeti said the opinion of rapporteur Bakoyannis recommends Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe “without any additional precondition”.

None of the pledges Kosovo must take over are required before membership. At point 11 it is even clear that commitment should be addressed after membership”, he wrote on Facebook.

According to him, all proposals to establish new preconditions “have been rejected by most members of the Committee, which shows that Kosovo must become a member in May of this year and the new preconditions would be unfair”.

In Bakoyani's report, it is also required to evacuate the introduction that is set before the name of Kosovo, “Fust, which has been used since 2008 in any report and communication on and with Kosovo. It is also recommended that Kosovo be invited as a state, according to Article 4 of the Council of Europe Statistics, and not as a country under Article 5”.

Meanwhile, Kosovo Parliament deputy from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo ranks Besnik Tahiri, who was present at the meeting, said the report was voted 31 votes for, four against and one abstention. But, according to him, there were disagreements during the meeting.

Media in Kosovo have reported that against the report, two deputies from Serbia have voted, one vote against was by Montenegrin deputies and Bosnia and Herzegovina, meanwhile, one of Greece's deputies has abstained.

In Serbia, Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic called the decision to recommend Kosovo's membership to the Council of Europe “shameful and scandalous”, reports the rel.

After this vote in Strasbourg, the issue proceeds to the Parliamentary Assembly on 18 April and if it gets approval even in this institution, then the final word for Kosovo's membership should be given to the Council of Europe's Council of Ministers during a meeting it will hold in May.