Kosovo delegation confirms removal of Kosovo from the agenda of the CoE Political Committee

2025-03-05 16:24:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kosovo delegation confirms removal of Kosovo from the agenda of the CoE

Kosovo's request to be a special guest at the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was removed from the agenda, the Kosovo delegation to the CoE confirmed.

This request was on the agenda of the Committee meeting, which is being held in Paris.

Ariana Musliu Shoshi - part of the Kosovo delegation - said that, at the request of the chairman of the European People's Party Group, Pablo Hispan, a vote was taken to postpone this item from the agenda.

Musliu Shoshi described this as "an unexpected development".

"This situation shows the need for mobilization as a state, in cooperation with our allies, to create a clear strategy that will ensure the realization of our priorities and agendas in the international arena," she wrote on Facebook.

Earlier, the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabi?, also reported on such a thing.

During the session of the Serbian Parliament, she said that she was informed by the head of the Serbian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Bilana Pantic.

"Great gratitude to our friends from Spain, great gratitude to our friends from the European People's Party (EPP), who offered us support so that we had the majority to manage to remove this item from the agenda of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe," said Brnabi?.

Also present at today's meeting are Besnik Tahiri and Ariana Musliu Shoshi, members of Kosovo's delegation to the Council of Europe. Radio Free Europe is making efforts to contact them for comment.

Radio Free Europe has also contacted the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this issue and is awaiting a response.

The Parliamentary Assembly may grant special guest status to national parliaments of European countries that are not member states but which have applied for membership of the Council of Europe.

Members of the special guest delegation may sit in the Parliamentary Assembly, but do not have the right to vote. They are entitled to make a speech with the permission of the President of the Assembly.

Kosovo failed to join the Council of Europe in early 2024, because it was conditioned on the creation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.

Last year, Serbia formed a working group to coordinate the activities of state authorities against Kosovo's accession to the Council of Europe.

The Council of Europe is a leading organization in the protection of human rights. Possible membership would help Kosovo, among other things, in the areas of the rule of law and the fight against corruption./ REL