Following the favourable opinion adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Tuesday 16 April, Kosovo’s accession to the Organisation is now only awaiting the 2/3 majority vote of the foreign affairs ministers of its 46 member states.
A self-proclaimed state in 2008, Kosovo is recognised by 34 of them, but not by the other 12, led by Serbia.
This state of affairs blocked Pristina as long as Russia - in line with the Serbian position - was a member of the Council of Europe.
Its expulsion in March 2022, after the start of the war in Ukraine, freed up the Kosovan application sent in May and forwarded by the Committee of Ministers to the Assembly for an opinion in April 2023.
A year later, the House gave the green light (131 votes to 29, with 11 abstentions).
This is not a position on the recognition or non-recognition of a state, made clear the Greek rapporteur, Dora Bakoyannis.
This “is and shall remain a prerogative of states”.
The issue is to strengthen standards, in particular by guaranteeing access to the European Court of Human Rights for all those under Kosovo’s jurisdiction.
In this context, the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the Visoki Dečani Orthodox Monastery case is seen as “a tangible sign of the commitment of the government to act in full accordance with the Rule of law, irrespective of political considerations”.
The resolution of this case was one of the conditions of membership. It has been fulfilled, which is not the case for two others: the creation of an Association of Serb Majority Municipalities and strict compliance with the law in the context of expropriations.
Kosovo has pledged to do this after accession, but the Serbian MPs who spoke on Tuesday evening refuse to believe this.
Hoping that this accession - if confirmed by the Committee of Ministers - will be “not only beneficial to Kosovo and all those who are under its jurisdiction but is also a factor of stability, democratic security and peace in the Western Balkans and Europe”, the Assembly points out that this will automatically trigger a procedure for monitoring the commitments made. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)