Will Kosovo join the Council of Europe this year?

Kosovo will not be able to join the Council of Europe even this year, without the submission of the drafttitut proposed by the European Union for the Association of Serb majority municipalities to the Constitutional Court, they say at the German Embassy in Kosovo. According to them, the ball is on Kosovo's side and if necessary steps are taken before the gathering of the current KiE ministerial, the agenda could be changed to include Kosovo's membership vote in the governing organisation in human rights protection.

On the other hand, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they expect Kosovo's application to be addressed this year, until they underline that the country has met all conditions required for membership, follows Periscope.

And international relations connoisseurs are sceptical that there can be progress in this direction, even saying that, under current circumstances, even sending the draft association to the Constitutional Union would not guarantee membership in this European mechanism.

The Council of Europe's Foreign Affairs Committee will meet on 13 May 2025, while the agenda of this meeting will be prepared during April by the secretariat of this KiE decision-making body.

Kosovo in 2024 received the necessary votes at the Parliamentary Assembly for Council of Europe membership, but did not pass the final step, since it was not included at all in the Committee of Ministers agenda, this decision-making body for Kosovo membership and meeting only once a year.

The obstacle to involvement in the agenda last year became Kosovo's determination not to meet the requirement of three of the main states of the European Union -- Germany, France and Italy -- to submit to the Constitutional Court the draft state proposed by the EU for the Association of Serb-run municipalities.

And at Germany's Embassy in Pristina, they tell Kosovo Pristina that this condition is still valid for Kosovo, until they stress that unfortunately this step has not yet been taken by Kosovo institutions.

In this respect, they say, the successful vote for Kosovo membership is of vital importance, so the vote, without ensuring the necessary majority, would jeopardise this aspirations and lead to negative results.

However, they claim that Kosovo deserves its place in the Council of Europe and that Germany remains steadfast in its full support for Kosovo's aspirations to join the KiE.

“Securation of a successful Kosovo membership vote is of critical importance. The vote without securing the necessary majority would jeopardise this aspirin and lead to negative results, which should be avoided at any cost. We have been stable and transparent, together with our partners, in determining the essential step needed to ensure most: Delivering the draft for ESM [Asciation] to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo. Unfortunately, this essential step has not yet been taken. Now the ball is in Kosovo's field, as highlighted in May 2024 by President Macron, Chancellor Scholz and Prime Minister Melon. The Agency for the Committee of Ministers is prepared by his secretariat. If the necessary steps will be completed before the meeting, we are convinced that the agenda can and should be changed to include a vote for Kosovo membership”, Christian Boettcher said from the office for communication at the German Embassy, in a response to Kosova Preris.

However, incumbent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Kressnik Ahmeti said the country has met all conditions and that they expect Kosovo's application to be addressed at the May Minsterial of the Council of Europe.

Asked whether they have lobbied at member states to secure the majority, he declares that the MPJD has continued the campaign to close this process as soon as possible, until it was declared whether the draftation draft of Serb majority municipalities will be submitted to the Constitutional Court.

“Based on the Status and Council of Europe Procedure Rules, following the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the application of the Republic of Kosovo would have to be addressed in the next ministerial of the Council of Europe. As you are aware, this opinion was given in April 2024 and has been extremely positive. It has confirmed that the Republic of Kosovo has met all conditions required for membership, that it meets, in some cases even, minority rights, exceeds the legal standards of the Council of Europe and its mechanisms, and that it must be fully recognised, without additional conditions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspore has continued the campaign to complete this process as soon as possible according to the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, just as Stitut and the Council of Europe Procedure Rules of” are said to be in its response to Kosova pris.

And international relations professor Dritero Arifi says of Kosova Preis that in current political circumstances sending the draft association state to the Constitutional Court is not the right decision, as such cannot guarantee Kosovo's membership in the KiE.

According to him, it will be too late for such an act until it is known who will form the next government after the 9 February elections.

He is also critical of the incumbent government, which according to him has had concrete diplomatic initiatives on how to move away for membership in the Council of Europe, following the current challenge in which the main EU states have decided on sending the Association Bill to the Council of Europe.

I think we're too late and now it's not the right decision after the circumstances have changed. The Kosovo government, whoever does the government must be careful what we are doing and what we are taking. Many concrete diplomatic initiatives must be made on how to move away. The ball is on our side, but not all of it. It depends on some elements that will change global policy and where we are depending on our consistency in content, and not only on the number”, Arifi points out.

Institutions in Kosovo have rejected the drafts drafted by the European Union for Association, until they have voiced themselves against sending it to the Constitutional Court for assessment.

Even days ago, President Vjosa Osmani said the same is contrary to the Kosovo Constitution and European values.

Last year, a day before the meeting of the Committee of Ministers, Foreign Minister Donika Grovalla, through a letter addressed to the president of the EC General Assembly, pledged that Kosovo would draft and submit a draft to the Constitution, but not that of the EU. But that was not accepted, therefore the Kosovo issue was not set in order on the day of the CoE foreign affairs ministers' meeting.

Kosovo has applied for membership in the Council of Europe in 2022. / KP