Kosovo rejects condition set by France, Germany for its Council of Europe membership

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti stands firm against a condition set by France and Germany for Council of Europe membership, highlighting Kosovo’s eligibility and rejecting tie-ins with the ‘Serbian Municipalities Association’

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti rejected a condition set by France and Germany for Kosovo’s Council of Europe membership regarding the establishment of a “Serbian Municipalities Association.”

Kurti emphasized Kosovo’s eligibility for Council membership, affirmed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He dismissed the demand to submit unofficial documents to the Constitutional Court as absurd.

Kurti expressed Kosovo’s unwillingness to tie its Council membership to the Serbian Municipalities Association, preferring to address Kosovo-Serbia relations in Brussels.

The Association, agreed upon in 2013 but stalled due to Kosovo’s Constitutional Court ruling, remains contentious.

Kosovo’s Council of Europe membership process, initiated in May 2022 after Russia’s expulsion, received unconditional approval of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The final decision rests with the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, convening on May 16-17. France and Germany’s support for Kosovo’s membership follows Kosovo’s government submitting the Association’s draft statute to the Constitutional Court, a move confirmed by Kurti.

Source: Newsroom

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