Pavkovic: A shortcut is being created for Kosovo's entry into the CoE; Serbia feels betrayed

Milos Pavkovic, a researcher at the Center for European Policy, assessed that yesterday's vote in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) sent a message that a shortcut was being created for Kosovo's entry into the Council of Europe before fulfilling the obligations from agreements, primarily the formation of the CSM.

Pavkovic emphasizes for Kosovo Online that the Council of Europe is a significant step for Pristina.

"The messages sent to Belgrade and Pristina are twofold. Regarding Pristina specifically, the message sent is that these countries that voted 'in favor' strongly support Kosovo's international affirmation in international organizations, and the Council of Europe is indeed a significant step for Kosovo in terms of membership in international organizations, and I would say in a way a prelude to a future EU membership," Pavkovic said.

Serbia, Pavkovic adds, feels betrayed.

"As for Serbia, it is, of course, not satisfied with this decision, primarily because Serbia's position is that Kosovo should not be a member of international organizations, primarily the UN, but we see the Council of Europe as well. Another thing is that Serbia feels somewhat betrayed and let down by Western partners since it received an informal promise that Kosovo would not be admitted to the Council of Europe before implementing obligations from agreements, primarily referring to the formation of the CSM. Now we see that a shortcut is being created for Kosovo to enter the Council of Europe even before meeting the conditions," he said.

The next step for Pristina is the Committee of Ministers scheduled for May 16 and 17; however, Pavkovic emphasizes that Serbia had more "maneuvering space" in the PACE.

"In the Parliamentary Assembly, MPs who sit there from their countries do not necessarily vote along national lines and do not follow the positions of their governments, so Serbia had the space to lobby more individual MPs, but that ended unsuccessfully. When it comes to the Committee of Ministers, I think the maneuvering space is smaller, or nonexistent to block Kosovo's membership. Now the maneuvering space is only in the sense that perhaps one of the member states, France is mentioned, could delay this decision or remove it from the agenda of the Committee of Ministers scheduled for May 16 and 17," he says.

He is also not surprised by the vote of MPs in the PACE.

"Anyone following the work of this international organization knows that MPs sitting in the Council of Europe, MPs in the Parliamentary Assembly, are not necessarily representatives of the ruling coalition in their home countries. So, we have opposition parties that can have a different stance compared to the formal position of their government. That's why I say that maybe there was room for maneuver for Serbia to try on an individual, personal level, to win over more MPs. We had MPs from states that are recognizers and strong partners of Kosovo, such as Germany, France... voting against this decision, and on the other hand, we had a surprise from states that are non-recognizers like Greece, Romania, and Armenia, which voted for this decision, so there were surprises on both sides, but unfortunately, Serbian diplomacy failed to lobby for more surprises and block this decision," Pavkovic concludes.