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The matter now passes into the hands of the Foreign Ministers of the Council of Europe, who must finally decide whether Kosovo will become the newest member...
Kosovo is only one step away from membership in the Council of Europe. The Parliamentary Assembly of KiE has voted in favor of its membership in this organization.
Although Serbia tried not to allow such a process, issuing a series of amendments, 2/3 of the members sided with Kosovo.
After the vote of the Parliamentary Assembly, the matter passes into the hands of the Foreign Ministers of the Council of Europe, who must finally decide whether Kosovo will become the newest member of the organization. The next meeting of the Council of Ministers will take place in the middle of May this year.
Regarding the debates in the Assembly, the reporter Dora Bakoyannis said that Kosovo is a functional parliamentary democracy with strong guarantees for the independence of the judiciary and basic human rights.
She mentioned three issues that she considered more problematic to solve, the one for the Monastery of Deçan, the expropriation and the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.
" I have identified three remaining issues, where immediate action was necessary. The implementation of the verdict for the Monastery of Deçan, the legal expropriation of the properties of the Serbian minority and the establishment of the Association. During my involvement in this file, all the state parties have warned me that no progress can be expected in any of these mentioned issues. But with persistent work, real progress has been observed. The Parliamentary Assembly has managed to solve what has been identified as one of the most important cases of violations of the right, the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court that would return the property to the Monastery ", she said.
Bakoyannis expressed optimism that the Assembly will recommend that Kosovo be invited to become a member.
Based on the mentioned factors, my opinion is that the Parliamentary Assembly will recommend to the Committee of Ministers to invite Kosovo to become a member of the Council of Europe . I hope that today the Assembly will underline the need to bring two million more Europeans under the democratic umbrella of the Council of Europe to protect them from violations ", she added.
The Greek deputy has invited the countries that oppose the membership of Kosovo, to stand aside and not to see this issue as a matter of citizenship.
The representative of Kosovo, Enis Kervan, called on the Assembly to vote in support of Kosovo.
" Kosovo has made remarkable progress towards membership in the Council of Europe. We have applied the principles of the rule of law, democracy and human rights with the commitment to the protection of national minorities. Our legal framework sets a high standard in line with European standards for the protection of minority rights ," he said.
Nerea Ahedo, deputy from Spain, has also given support to Kosovo, who said that membership "would strengthen human rights". Likewise, Oleksii Goncharenko, from Ukraine, expressing support, emphasized that Kosovo deserves membership.
Meanwhile, the representative of Serbia in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Biljana Pantic, has called the rapporteur for Kosovo in the Council of Europe, Dora Bakoyannis, a hypocrite. She proposed a series of amendments to block Kosovo's membership, but they all fell through, leaving Belgrade dry.
" Mrs. Bakoyannis I want to congratulate you for what you are doing today because you will go down in history as someone who in the most brutal way violated all norms of international law. You have clearly said that the so-called Kosovo must fulfill three conditions to have a positive opinion. The first and most fundamental condition was the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. The establishment of the Association is a fundamental prerequisite for the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. If you invite the so-called Kosovo to the Council of Europe without establishing the Association, it will never be established. It was you who said: The establishment of the Association is considered a necessary condition for the effective protection of national minorities and their rights. You have demonstrated that you have no integrity and are hypocrites ," she emphasized.
Then the President of the Assembly Theodoros Rousopoulos took the floor, who said that the debates should be done in a civilized manner and members should be careful with their statements.
" According to the regulation and code of conduct, debates should be conducted in a civilized and orderly manner. Members cannot do anything that could cause disruption to the proceedings ," he said.
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