Pantic Pilja: A small victory for Serbia in the CoE; great support from MPs of Spain, Cyprus, Hungary…

Kosovo’s request to obtain special guest status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was removed from the agenda of the Political Committee today, with a large majority of committee members voting in favor of its removal. Twenty-one MPs voted to remove the item, while ten voted for it to remain, Biljana Pantic Pilja, head of Serbia’s parliamentary delegation in PACE, told Kosovo Online.

Some members of the committee, which consists of over 80 MPs, abstained from voting, while others were not present in the room when the agenda was put to a vote.

"This is our small victory. We managed to keep Kosovo’s request off the agenda with great help from our colleagues from Spain, particularly Pablo Hispan. MPs from Cyprus, our traditional allies, also voted to remove the item, as well as MPs from Kosovo-recognizing countries such as Hungary and Germany, including Andrej Hunko. Their voices were heard today," Pantic Pilja said.

Pristina had submitted its request for special guest status in PACE in a letter sent at the end of November last year. However, a new opportunity for it to be included on the agenda will arise at the next PACE session.

Today's outcome in the Political Committee means that Kosovo will remain in the status of "Other delegations" within PACE.