Kosovo’s request to be a special guest in the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was removed from the agenda, confirmed the Kosovo delegation to the Council of Europe.
This request had been on the agenda for the Committee’s meeting, which is being held in Paris.
Ariana Musliu Shoshi, a member of the Kosovo delegation, said that, at the request of the Chairman of the European People’s Party Group, Pablo Hispan, a vote was held to postpone this item from the agenda.
Musliu Shoshi described this as “an unexpected development.”
“This situation highlights the need for mobilization as a state, in cooperation with our allies, to create a clear strategy that will ensure the achievement of our priorities and agendas on the international stage,” she wrote on Facebook.
Earlier, Serbian Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić also reported on this matter.
During the session of the Serbian Assembly, she said she had been informed by the head of the Serbian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Biljana Pantić.
“A big thank you to our friends from Spain, a big thank you to our friends from the European People’s Party (EPP), who offered us support to secure the majority to remove this item from the agenda of the Political Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,” said Brnabić.
Present at today’s meeting were also Besnik Tahiri and Ariana Musliu Shoshi, members of the Kosovo delegation to the Council of Europe. Radio Free Europe is making efforts to contact them for comment.
The Parliamentary Assembly can grant special guest status to national parliaments of European countries that are not member states but have applied for membership in the Council of Europe.
Special guest delegation members can sit in the Parliamentary Assembly but do not have voting rights. They have the right to speak with the approval of the Assembly President.
Kosovo failed to join the Council of Europe in early 2024 due to conditions linked to the creation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.
Last year, Serbia formed a task force to coordinate state authorities’ activities against Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe.
The Council of Europe is a leading organization in the protection of human rights. eventual membership would help Kosovo, among other things, in the areas of the rule of law and combating corruption.
