If UNESCO accepts Kosovo application for membership that does not mean that it will become 205th member of this organization. As stated by Rada Trajkovic, president of the NGO European movement of Serbs, membership in the UNESCO could be prevented by the Serbian MPs in Kosovo parliament. As she claims, and as stipulated by the Kosovo constitution, for the laws related to the protection of the cultural heritage is required majority support of MPs from the minority groups.
However, there is a possibility that Pristina circumvent regular ratification procedure related to the possible admission in the UNESCO. Branimir Stojanovic, Kosovo Deputy PM said that such things already happened with ratifications for other international agreements, like it was entry in the World Bank. “If procedure will be implemented, there is no doubt in which way the Serbian MPs will vote, particularly because Kosovo entry in UNESCO is not in the interest of Serbs.”
“If Kosovo membership in UNESCO will mean that our monasteries will be protected by those who destroyed them, we will oppose that proposal,” said Aleksandar Jablanovic, president of the Serbian List, stressing that decision about it will be brought in consultation with the Serbian Government and Serbian Orthodox Church. He said that request for UNESCO membership was not on the agenda of the Assembly, but was initiated by the Kosovo Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs, in which Serbs don’t have representatives. Then, they just informed Pristina executive authority about it.
Jablanovic said that he hopes that UN will not allow such precedent like it is Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO: “I believe that UN cannot give the membership right to one self-declared territory. That would mean that Crimea and other areas with secessionist’s aims can also join UNESCO.”
