Bozinovic: Members of national delegations in the PACE are not obligated to vote unanimously

Retired diplomat Milovan Bozinovic, ahead of tomorrow's vote in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Kosovo's request to become a member of this organization, says that members of national delegations in the PACE are not obligated to vote unanimously and that essentially, in the Council of Europe, votes are cast according to the delegate's own individual conscience.

"The Council of Europe was founded immediately after World War II with the idea of being Europe's conscience, a body of high moral authority that will monitor whether states adhere to the highest democratic standards. It is understood that everyone assesses things according to their own perspective and has the right to say how they see a situation. In that sense, members of delegations are not obligated to vote unanimously. Essentially, in the Council of Europe, votes are cast according to the delegate's own individual conscience," Bozinovic says for Kosovo Online.

He adds that there will certainly be cases within a delegation of a country where someone expresses a different opinion or abstains from voting.

"Assessments, however, show that this will not significantly shake the expected poor result for us, and we should prepare for such an outcome and for all the political consequences that will follow. We live in a time of visibly violent uniformity among states, Europe is turning into a machinery, and I go so far as to say in the service of NATO and its political interests, and there are fewer chances for individuals to have a say in such cases," Bozinovic says.

Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will vote tomorrow on the report of Member of Parliament Dora Bakoyannis, the rapporteur for Kosovo in the Council of Europe, which recommends Kosovo's admission to this organization.