At the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at around 5:30 p.m., the discussion began regarding the report on Kosovo’s membership or not in this organization.
Finally, the vote on the report is expected.
It is about voting a positive opinion regarding Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe, in the organization which mainly deals with human rights and the development of democracy.
The report was compiled by the Greek MP, Dora Bakoyannis, and the draft of this report was approved in March by the Committee for Politics and Democracy of this organization.
To be approved by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a two-thirds majority of the votes of the members present at the meeting must be secured. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe consists of deputies who come from the national parliaments of the member countries.
The day before the vote in Strasbourg, there were numerous consultations to see how the mood is. There were meetings between the delegations of the political parties, while the delegations from Serbia and Kosovo made the last efforts to convince the deputies to vote in their favor in the largest number possible.
Serbia opposes Kosovo’s membership in this organization.
Before the beginning of the session in the Parliamentary Assembly on Tuesday, the Committee for Politics and Democracy rejected with a large majority all the amendments proposed by the delegates of Serbia, which were also supported by two delegates of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Serbia had proposed some changes in the text for the recommendation that Kosovo be admitted to this organization. Through them, it was requested that Kosovo not be admitted to the Council of Europe until the Security Council of the United Nations decides on the status of Kosovo.
Serbia also requested that, in the continuation of the process, the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority be made a condition for Kosovo. The Serbian delegation has also requested that all the points in which Kosovo’s progress in respect of human and minority rights are evaluated be removed from the text and instead, Kosovo be criticized for rights violations.
Usually, when the amendments do not pass in the relevant committee, then they are no longer debated and voted on in the plenary session of the Council of Europe. However, if their proponents insist on voting for them, they can request such a thing if they have the support of at least 10 deputies present. Therefore, even though they have been rejected by the relevant committee, there is still the possibility that they will be returned for debate and voting in the Assembly.
A delegation of the Assembly of Kosovo is at the headquarters of the Council of Europe from Kosovo, while the Foreign Minister of Kosovo, Donika Gërvalla, has also held meetings at various levels.
The impression of the delegates of several member countries of the Council of Europe, with whom Radio Free Europe spoke, is that it will be possible to secure favorable votes for Kosovo in this session.
However, they have noticed that at the last moment there was a move by some member countries which recognize Kosovo as a state, but are not sure of their support for Kosovo’s admission to the Council of Europe at this moment.
It will also be a challenge to ensure the presence of a sufficient number of deputies to ensure the necessary quorum. For this, at least one third of the total members of the Assembly must be present. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the votes of those present are needed for the report on Kosovo to pass.
It is also mentioned the possibility that a certain number of deputies will not participate in the session at all.
If the Parliamentary Assembly votes in favor of Kosovo’s membership on Tuesday, then the issue will pass into the hands of the Council of Europe’s foreign ministers, who must finally decide whether Kosovo will become the organization’s newest member.
The next meeting of the Council of Ministers will take place in the middle of May. The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Council of Europe meets once a year, traditionally in the month of May.
However, there are rumors in diplomatic circles that Kosovo’s membership may not be placed on the agenda of the meeting of ministers in May.
This is also related to the activity of the QUINT countries, the United States, Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy, which usually support Kosovo, but now want to see Kosovo move towards the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. .
As for the report, which will be voted on on Tuesday, it mentions the establishment of the Association as a condition after membership in the Council of Europe.
An amendment which is considered challenging has been proposed by some delegates from Italy. They requested that Kosovo’s duty to establish the Association be examined before the Council of Ministers decides on the eventual acceptance of Kosovo. The Italian delegates request that Kosovo be conditioned to implement all obligations from the Agreement on the way to the normalization of relations – achieved last year – including the establishment of the Association.
Until the last moment, it will be unclear how the votes will go and in what form the text will be approved.
For the debate on Kosovo, scheduled to start around 17:00, 59 MPs have been warned to take the floor. Among them, three MPs from Kosovo. They monitor the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in the capacity of observers, they have the right to speak, but not to vote. /REL
