Dacic: Kosovo has no right to be a member of the Council of Europe, but it would have a sufficient number of votes for admission

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, said that Kosovo had a sufficient number of votes for admission to the Council of Europe, considering the number of countries in that body that had recognized it, but that the question was whether they all thought that this topic should be discussed now, Danas reports.

"When it comes to the countries that have recognized Kosovo, we are in the worst position in Europe," Dacic said in an interview for Politika, adding that the request for the admission of Kosovo had not been activated at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, that Ireland had not done so during its presidency, and that now it was presided over by Iceland.

According to him, Kosovo essentially should not have the right to be a member of the Council of Europe.

"For the first time, it would happen that there would be a vote over the admission of a new member of the Council of Europe, that is when there are conflicts; that has not happened so far," Dacic said and added that this was the reason why many countries were not enthusiastic about the idea.

Dacic said that when it came to the EU, the situation was much clearer because decisions were made by consensus, and if five members of the EU had not recognized Kosovo's independence, it would be impossible for the decision to be positive.

"When it comes to Kosovo's possible entry into the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the case is the same, and it is decided by consensus," Dacic said, adding that the OSCE was the only place where Kosovo could have a chance.

Dacic said that Iceland, as the chairman, was under great pressure, primarily from Germany, just as Ireland had been, to put the issue of Kosovo's admission into the procedure.

"However, since Iceland is organizing a summit of the member states of the Council of Europe in April, the question is whether it is in their interest that the meeting passes in disagreements," Dacic said.

He said that the procedure for entering the Council of Europe was such that the decision was made by the Committee of Ministers, that is, at the weekly meeting of the heads of missions in Strasbourg, and that this meant that the issue of Kosovo's membership could be on the agenda every week.

"If the issues of Kosovo's membership were to enter the procedure before the summit, the question arises for us as to whether we can participate in the summit at all,“ Dacic said and added that then the topic of the disunity of the members of the Council of Europe would be opened and that he thought it was in their interest to demonstrate unity, and that, in addition to Ukraine, another topic should not be dominant at the summit.

When asked whether Serbia could make a more drastic move and withdraw from that body, Dacic said that it was necessary to evaluate what Serbia's interests were and that Serbia would not agree to Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe without a fight.

"Apart from statehood as a formal condition, they do not even meet the political conditions to be a candidate at all," Dacic said.

Dacic added that the question was whether Serbia would succeed in improving relations with Croatia, and emphasized that we should look for common interests and deal with concrete issues.