KOSOVO APPLIES TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL

Donika Gervalla, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani.

Fri 13 May 2022:

Kosovo’s foreign minister said on Thursday that the country had filed for official membership in the Council of Europe.

“Today, the examination procedure of our request, which will go through various stages of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and finally the Council of Ministers, begins,” Donika Gervalla, who is also deputy prime minister, said in a video message.

Gervalla said the rights of Kosovo’s citizens would be strengthened through the process.

“Kosovo is the most democratic, pro-European, and optimistic country in the region, so Kosovo deserves to be a member of the Council of Europe as soon as possible,” she asserted.

Earlier in the day, Kosovo’s government had approved the initiative to join the council and obliged the Foreign Ministry to finalize procedures.

However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused Pristina of violating the Washington Treaty, Brussels Treaty, and UN Security Council Resolution 1244 by taking this step.

Vucic said the major Western countries were behind this application and that Serbia would do everything it could to politically respond to it.

The absence of Russia from the organization following the attack on Ukraine improved Kosovo’s prospects of joining the council.

The Western Balkan country will be able to join the organization with the support of two-thirds of its member states, all of which recognize Kosovo in the absence of Russia.

Kosovo, which is primarily Albanian-populated, seceded from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. Serbia has refused to acknowledge this and continues to claim the territory. Kosovo also aims to be a full member of the EU.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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