In Montenegro warn vote against Kosovo's accession to Council of Europe

The full support “has been expressed to the party's deputy chairman, Maja Vukicic, chairman of the Montenegrin delegation to the APEC, to vote against the admission of the so-called Kosovo to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe”, said in the party's statement published on 24 March.

The PDP is one of the members of the disbanded Prorus and Proserb Democratic Front (FD) and makes up the parliamentary majority in Montenegro, which is led by the Movement Europe Now, of Prime Minister Millojko Spajic.

This party, led by one of former leaders The FDP, Milan Knezevic, agrees to withdraw recognition of Kosovo's independence, Montenegro's exit from NATO, and the removal of sanctions against Russia.

When it came to power at the end of last year, The PDP announced it would not raise these issues.

In the coalition agreement with Prime Minister Spajjic's Europe Movement Now, the parties agreed among other things that the government would not make decisions that would question Kosovo's independence, sanctions against Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, and obligations to NATO.

Kosovo was recognised in 2008 by the government of the Democratic Party of Socialists, Milo Djukanovic, who in August 2020 lost the elections to the ruling FD and prorus, Democrats and the URA movement.

Montenegro's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe consists of six members, of whom four are members of the Government and two members of the opposition.

The Council of Europe's Council of Ministers submitted Kosovo's application for membership to the Parliamentary Assembly to this organisation in April 2023 and thus officially launched procedures to review Kosovo's application.

Kosovo's bid also voted Montenegro's representative. For this, a part of the ruling proserbe parties reacted sharply.

Disgusted with the fact that Montenegro voted for Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe, FD deputies requested a hearing of the prime minister and then Minister of Foreign Affairs Dritan Abazovic.

Montenegro's interest in supporting Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe is in the best interests of regional stability and co-operation, Abazovic had said during the session of the Montenegrin Parliament's International Relations Commission in May 2023.

Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe has been re-actualised in recent weeks, as, at the request of the Kosovo Government to the Cadastral Agency for the transfer of 24 hectares of land on behalf of the Decani Monastery, one of the main conditions for membership has been met.

This issue could be crucial to Kosovo's application for membership in the Council of Europe, during the institution's Parliamentary Assembly, to be held in April.

If Kosovo gets the green light at the Parliamentary Assembly, then the final word must be given by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which the Kosovo Government expects to happen in May.

In May 2022, Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe. / REL