Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that his government does not to accept the creation of the Union of Serbian Municipalities (SSO) as a condition for membership in the Council of Europe, KosovaPress reported, quoted by BTA.
The international community is pushing for Kosovo to create a Union of Serbian Municipalities, which stems from a 2013 agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, and which would unite Kosovo's Serb-majority municipalities. Its creation is considered by the international factor as a “condition of conditions” for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia within the dialogue between them led by the EU.
Serbia does not recognize the independence of Kosovo declared in 2008. The two countries are conducting a dialogue for the normalization of relations under the auspices of the EU.
At a government meeting today, Kurti called “absurd“ the request of France and Germany that the draft statute for the European Union's CSTO be sent for interpretation to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo as a condition for the country's membership in the Council of Europe.
On Monday, both sides expressed a position that this action by Kosovo would be a sufficient signal to secure support in the final vote in the Council of Europe this month, notes KosovaPress.
The Kosovo prime minister said that Kosovo had proposed that this document become part of the February 2023 Brussels Agreement package and the Ohrid Implementation Annex agreed in March last year, but Serbia rejected that proposal.
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Kurti added that it was not expected that democratic states, which have been and continue to support Kosovo in its development and democratization, would become an obstacle to Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe.
„We expected the obstacles to our membership in this organization (to come) from countries that have not yet recognized the Republic of Kosovo, but we never in any way thought that democratic countries that have supported and continue to support Kosovo in development and democratization, will become an obstacle”, the Prime Minister declared.
Kurti emphasized that the condition set by France and Germany has nothing to do with the standards for membership in this organization and added that Kosovo is asking for membership on its merits because it thinks it deserves membership.
The final decision on whether Kosovo will become a member of the Council of Europe is expected at the next meeting of the Committee of Ministers within this institution, which will be held on May 16–17 in Strasbourg.
The information portal “Kaldzo“ announced today that the issue of Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe has not yet been included in the agenda of the meeting of the Committee of Ministers.