Kosovo's membership process in KiE continues, engagement neither in May

Kosovo remains outside the agenda of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, which will begin works Tuesday, even though last year it had received positive recommendation from the Parliamentary Assembly. Based on the agenda that officials of this organisation have forwarded, when asked about Kosovo, the annual session is to Ukraine and Europe's internal agenda. Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe has been a topic of discussion at the meeting that incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti had Monday with ambassadors of QUINT countries.

Kosovo will not be part of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers agenda, under the annual session, starting Tuesday.

On Questions TIMES!In line with the Kosovo app, which has been suspended since last year, the Council of Europe has only prosecuted the agenda, the focus this year is on Ukraine and the New Democratic Pact of Europe.

The “Picts of the agenda will include the organisation's role in the new geopolitical context as protection of democratic security, especially its actions in support of Ukraine and the New Democratic Pact for Europe, as well as the work of the Council of Europe in the field of environment é after the Reikjavik Declaration ( approved at the Summit of Leaders of the States and Governments of 2023). The ministers will also discuss co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union”, said by the KiE.

Other topics to be addressed are: KiE's work in areas such as the European Convention for Human Rights system, social rights, children's rights and education, journalists' safety, dezinformation and rule of law.

The annual meeting is held at a time when Kosovo has still undergone institutions after the February 9th elections.

Kosovo's membership in the Council has been a topic of discussion at the meeting that incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti had Monday with ambassadors of the QUINT countries.

The summit's central theme was the process of membership of the Republic of Kosovo in the Council of Europe. The prime minister recalled that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the rapporteur for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe have already confirmed that Kosovo meets the legal and institutional criteria to be part of this important international organisation. He stressed that our country's further progress in the accession process would show that democratic reforms and line-up with European norms and values are recognised and appreciated even in difficult political contexts in which principled and strategic decisions require European unity and stability. As a result of delays in membership, the prime minister further added, if continued to be denied to the citizens of Kosovo, including ineligible communities and other vulnerable groups, access to the European Court of Human Rights, a key defence mechanism that could significantly strengthen individual rights and account”, the prime minister said.

The membership issue was mentioned by incumbent Foreign Affairs Minister Donika Grovalla, following the failure of one of the last sessions.

“I don't mean that if the Kosovo Assembly had been formed, it would certainly have been membered now in May, but we make it easy for everyone not to support us in our membership in the Council of Europe. We make it very easy not to address this topic at this stage”, Gervalla said.

But in the MPJD, they have not shown who the commitment and lobbie has been to get Kosovo involved this year in the agenda.

The issue affecting Kosovo's non-involvement decision May 2024 was the failure to process the draft of the Serb-run municipality Associations.

Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe in May 2022, until the final decision belongs to the Committee of Ministers, the body representing the governments of member states./Periscopi/