Gerald Knaus from the European Initiative for Stability, says that he does not expect Kosovo to be on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on May 17, where it would be possible to vote for its admission to this organization.
This, in spite of the fact that Kosovo said on Thursday that it has sent a letter to the Council of Europe to inform it that it is preparing the draft statute for the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, to be submitted to the Constitutional Court for consideration.
“I think the letter came a little late”, says Knaus, who has closely followed Kosovo’s journey towards the Council of Europe.
“But I think that the member countries should say that they support the Kosovo initiative and should call for an extraordinary summit soon – hopefully within a few weeks”, he says to Radio Free Europe.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has voted for the admission of Kosovo on April 16 and the final decision has passed to the Committee of Ministers.
Meanwhile, some countries such as Germany and France have asked Kosovo to take concrete steps towards the establishment of the Association, to convince the skeptical governments to vote in its favor for membership in the Council of Europe.
The Government of Kosovo initially rejected this condition.
Radio Free Europe: Kosovo is preparing the draft statute for the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, to be submitted to the Constitutional Court for consideration. Is this step a game changer?
Gerald Knaus: It would have to be a game changer. Let us be clear about the position of Kosovo and the European democracies. Kosovo has pledged in the letter of its three institutions – the president, the prime minister and the speaker of the Parliament – addressed to the Council of Europe, that it will take a step to make this possible as soon as possible. But the letter does not say that this association must be such that it is accepted by [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vučić, because there will never be one.
Therefore, by sending to the Constitutional Court a draft drafted by the two most prominent institutes in Europe – the European Institute for Peace and the organization Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) – Kosovo fulfills its obligation. Then, it is up to the municipalities with a Serbian majority to say that they want to create this association. If they do not want to create it, it cannot be imposed on them. But, Kosovo has fulfilled the obligation.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe should then support the vote in the Parliamentary Assembly for the admission of Kosovo.
Radio Free Europe: What are the chances that Germany and France will comply with this draft?
Gerald Knaus: Democracy and diplomacy are about arguments. Kosovo needs strong arguments and it has them. There are those who say that Serbia should have a veto. There are those who hide behind the request for the Association. There are those who followed Vučić’s visit to Paris, where he said that he will ask the president [of France, Emmanuel] Macron not to allow Kosovo’s entry into the Council of Europe, promising to buy 12 fighter jets, that he will sign a contract with the French business.
If this kind of democracy is successful… I don’t think it is in Europe’s interest.
I don’t think that France – a proud democracy that created the Council of Europe to protect human rights and values - can be so easily manipulated by the Serbian president.
I expect there will be debate. It is up to the Government of Kosovo to convince everyone that it is serious. It has been serious for the past few months. If this continues, then the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for Kosovo, Dora Bakoyannis, should be listened to. She comes from a country that has not known Kosovo and in her report she said that there were no more prepared candidates than Kosovo.
Radio Free Europe: What about the EU, will it accept this draft?
Gerald Knaus: The EU is a separate institution. The main issue concerns Germany and France, as member states of the Council of Europe. The EU cannot veto. Of course, countries can say they will ignore the Parliamentary Assembly, but then this becomes a crisis for the Council of Europe, not only for Kosovo.
If a process that is meritocratic – because 82 percent of the Parliamentary Assembly voted for Kosovo – is bypassed, then the Council of Europe has a serious credibility problem.
Radio Free Europe: Could the latest step put Kosovo on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Friday?
Gerald Knaus: No, I think that the letter [from Kosovo to the Council of Europe] came a little late. But I think the member countries should say they support the Kosovo initiative and should call for an extraordinary summit soon – hopefully within a few weeks.
So, if Kosovo submits this draft to the Constitutional Court, as it has said now, then there should be a summit soon and Kosovo should be accepted this summer.
This seems real now. It takes time, because it is not easy for governments in Europe and in Pristina to find consensus. It’s late, but it’s not too late.
Radio Free Europe: So you think there will be an extraordinary meeting. When was the last time that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe met in an extraordinary meeting?
Gerald Knaus: As far as I remember, the last time was on the issue of the exclusion of Russia, after the attack on Ukraine. So this happens for big, historic occasions. And Kosovo now has to argue for its position. But it also has its allies in Europe.
Radio Free Europe: And, if there is no extraordinary meeting, it will have to wait until next May?
Gerald Knaus: If there is no extraordinary meeting, then we have a real problem. It is very important to argue now. It is also important for the countries to say that with the initiative for the Association, with the sending of the draft to the Constitutional Court, Kosovo has fulfilled what was asked of it.
If the Constitutional Court finds that [the draft] is constitutional, then the ball goes to the municipalities with a Serbian majority. They will have to create the Association, because it cannot be imposed on them. And if they do not create it, this will not be the fault of the Government of Kosovo.