Gervalla after the meeting of the Committee of Ministers: The offer to draft the Statute for the CSM is no longer valid

Kosovo's Foreign Minister, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, announced that at today's meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, no decision was made to convene an extraordinary session to decide on Kosovo's membership in the international institution. She also stated that the offer to draft the statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) is no longer valid, Reporteri reports.

Gervalla highlighted that today's exclusion of Kosovo from the agenda contradicts the call from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which had adopted an opinion that Kosovo should join the Council of Europe without additional preconditions.

Speaking about the letter the Government of Kosovo sent to the Council of Europe yesterday, in which it promised to prepare a draft statute for the CSM by the end of May, Gervalla said that despite consulting international partners, the letter had no effect.

"At today's ministerial meeting of the Council of Europe, which marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the most significant organization for the protection of human rights on our continent, there were interventions from various member states calling for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. Although today was the day to vote on our membership in this organization and thus send a strong message about human rights, democracy, and the rule of law on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Council of Europe and the 25th anniversary of Kosovo's liberation, the foreign ministers of the member states did not include it in the agenda and did not decide to convene an extraordinary meeting to admit the Republic of Kosovo without delay," Gervalla stated.

She added that given the late, informal, and arbitrary precondition imposed on Kosovo, the Government of Kosovo made a reasonable proposal (through the offer mentioned in the letter to the Council of Europe) to overcome the blockade created by this latest precondition.

"Although we consulted with member state partners on our offer, and in exchange for a positive decision at today's Committee of Ministers meeting, we offered a broad platform for joint work, that offer was not considered. Accordingly, that offer letter lost its relevance after today's Committee of Ministers meeting," she said.

Gervalla noted that despite the serious and reasonable proposal from the Government, some countries chose to join Serbia's campaign lobbying against Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, thus denying Kosovo's citizens the mechanisms of that institution regarding rights, particularly for ethnic minority communities and other marginalized groups.

Stating that Kosovo has met all criteria and conditions for membership in the Council of Europe, Gervalla emphasized that Kosovo's membership cannot be stopped, even if it has been delayed by opponents or Serbia's lobbying.

"We are on the right path and working well. We have left no stone unturned, always within the framework of constitutionality and legality, in the interest of Kosovo," Gervalla concluded.