Latinovic: In the recommendation for accession to the CoE Kosovo in quotation marks, they mean it is a questionable state

Former Ambassador to the OSCE Branka Latinovic, regarding tomorrow's meeting of the Political Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where a vote will be held on rapporteur Dora Bakoyannis's recommendation for Kosovo to be admitted to this organization, says that Kosovo is placed in quotation marks in the recommendation, which means that a formula has been found in accordance with the Brussels Agreement and that the quotes imply that it is a questionable state.

"A recommendation has been given essentially aimed at accepting Kosovo's request to be admitted to the Council of Europe and for the Committee of Ministers to make a decision soon in line with the recommendations. One mitigating factor for the authorities in Pristina was that they have a good legal framework on paper, worked on by foreign experts. That was one of the elements that 'pulled' the rapporteurs to use it as an argument to give a recommendation," Latinovic says for Kosovo Online.

In addition to one fulfilled condition for Kosovo's admission regarding the Visoki Decani Monastery, our interlocutor points out that written promises have been made by the president, prime minister, and president of the Kosovo Assembly to fulfill the remaining conditions related to the negotiation process mediated by the EU.

"It should be noted that the report recommends strong monitoring, which means that the obligations Kosovo has undertaken will be under strong monitoring by the appropriate committee, or perhaps a Council of Europe mission will be opened in Pristina to oversee, control, and warn about it, and there are corresponding control mechanisms," Latinovic says.

She emphasizes that this is not an isolated process but should be viewed in the context of the political momentum in the region related to geopolitical events on the continent regarding the war in Ukraine and the aspiration to bring the entire region under strong control of international organizations, including accelerating the integration process into the EU.

Latinovic stresses that we currently do not know the outcome of the whole story, but everything indicates that Kosovo can be expected to regulate its status in the Council of Europe in the foreseeable future. She also says that we should be honest and admit that it all started in 2013 and that there was not enough caution.

"Kosovo joined the Council of Europe Development Bank and had the opportunity to receive funds, so their parliamentary delegation participated in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. All these were strong signals that it could be expected that Kosovo would submit a membership application at the appropriate stage and that it would be on the agenda, which is now the case," Latinovic says.