Voting for Kosovo membership in KiE still entered the Council of Ministers agenda

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on the Committee of Ministers on April 16th to accept Kosovo as its member. However, this topic has still been introduced to the committee of ministers.

A week ago, with an overwhelming majority of votes, KE Parliamentary Assembly deputies approved the report recommending Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. Now when the case will give epilogue to the KiE decision-making body, in a response to Gazeta Express, the Council of Europe's press service has confirmed that Kosovo's request has not been put in the agenda for the time being.

“About your question about the review of Kosovo's application, at this stage it is not in the agenda of the Committee of Ministers”, it says in response.

In his optimistic statement on the day when the Assembly voted in favour of Kosovo membership, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Kosovo's request would be considered during May at the Committee of Ministers meeting.

The Parliamentary Assembly says yes to Kosovo. We are one step closer and only one step away from membership in the Council of Europe. The next and last phase ahead is the ministerial in May”.

Kurti had said that the latest “phase has been optimistic since 1951, the Committee of Ministers has made no decision contrary to the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe”.

He had later pledged that work would continue for the whole process to be completed successfully.

Greek rapporteur Dora Bakojanis, who drafted the report recommending Kosovo's membership, had expressed enthusiasm for the support her colleagues gave the report.

“They [the members of the PACE] voted with an extraordinary majority my report meaning the report is positive to the Committee of Ministers. They demanded our opinion, and our opinion is positive. We believe that that small black hole in Europe's heart should close down another two million people would have the protection of the Council of Europe, protection for human rights, religious rights and, of course, the possibility of going to the European Court in case these rights are violated”, she had said.

Bakoyannis says that even if Kosovo enters the Council of Europe it will have a long way, citing the pledges it has taken since the first moment. She had said that in this case she would be in their pipe.

12 out of 46 Council of Europe member states do not recognise Kosovo's independence. However, not all MPs in these countries opposed Kosovo's membership during the parliamentary Assembly vote.