Though Kosovo announced submission of the request for accession in the Council in Europe, for Pristina this task is still ‘bite off more than it can chew.’ Even some countries that have recognized Kosovo independence do not believe that Kosovo fulfils the basic criteria of the Rule of Law, in addition to the fact the procedure for accession to the CoE is so complicated that it might last several years.
“Before the CoE Council of Ministers begins to decide on the accession of a new member, Parliamentary assembly must give opinion, what can last even one year,” said the Chief of the Serbian delegation in the CoE Parliamentary Assembly, Snezana Djurovic. As first, three Committees must vote, then the opinion must be consolidated and only then 318 MPs should vote (out of which two third majority is required). As she said exactly this is the biggest uncertainty for Kosovo, since it is very difficult to predict how delegations will vote and how many MPs from the each country will be present at the moment of voting.
Aleksandar Senic, member of Serbian delegation said that according to contacts he had with MPs in Strasbourg, Kosovo doesn’t have required majority. “Pristina is announcing candidacy for a certain time. However, it was never submitted, because it would be rejected due to the state in human rights. Membership of Kosovo is seen differently: according to the supporters of Kosovo accession the state of the human rights in Kosovo would be improved, because of existing monitoring. The opponents of the Kosovo accession believe that Kosovo should not join CoE exactly because of lack of standards in this area. Moreover, for the countries that didn’t recognize Kosovo independence, that argument is additional.”
