Latinovic: Conditions for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe unchanged, Germany has taken the initiative

Former Serbian Ambassador to the OSCE, Branka Latinovic, believes there are no new developments regarding Pristina's initiative to place Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe on the agenda of the next Committee of Ministers' meeting, as the conditions set for Kosovo have not changed. However, she notes that there may be discussions in diplomatic circles about a "package deal."

Latinovic reminds us that Kosovo had two conditions for Council of Europe membership. The first was the return of land to the Visoki Decani Monastery, which the Kosovo government has fulfilled. The second, she adds, relates to the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

"I don't believe anything has fundamentally changed regarding the conditions set for the Pristina authorities to reach the appropriate decision at the Committee of Ministers. We know that there were two conditions: the return of property to the Visoki Decani Monastery, which has been fulfilled and was the main impetus for the Parliamentary Assembly to make the decisions it did. The second relates to the adoption of the Statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities, which is clearly a sine qua non for regulating Kosovo's status in the Council of Europe," Latinovic stated.

Given that there has been no movement on these conditions, particularly regarding the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM), Latinovic believes there is little chance that the issue of Kosovo's membership will be placed on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers.

"Since nothing has changed and there are no signs of progress, I don't see any possibility that this issue will be on the agenda of the next Committee of Ministers' meeting," Latinovic added.

However, considering how Pristina "enabled" the flow of Serbian goods at Germany’s request, Latinovic would not be surprised if Kosovo’s path to the Council of Europe were made easier.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some kind of 'package deal' being worked on, where Pristina has additional obligations to fulfill in exchange for the membership issue being placed on the agenda. But if it does make it onto the agenda, that doesn’t mean it will automatically be resolved," Latinovic noted.

She also highlighted that Germany has taken on a political role in the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as in Kosovo’s membership bid for the Council of Europe.

"It’s clear that Germany has once again assumed political initiative and holds significant influence over the authorities in Pristina. There’s also a division between the U.S. and Germany, with the U.S. being more focused on security aspects, while Germany has taken on the political dimension. This is partly due to Germany and France taking responsibility for the Franco-German proposal, which served as the basis for drafting and adopting the new Brussels Agreement, as well as for the issue of resuming the flow of goods from Serbia. The statements we've heard from Germany are a strong indicator of a loosening of the criteria that Pristina must meet in order for the membership issue to be placed on the agenda of the next Committee of Ministers’ meeting, or in the near future," Latinovic concluded.