Simonovic Bratic: Delaying the decision on Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe would mean that there is an awareness of opening Pandora's box

If the decision-making at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Kosovo's application for membership in this organization were postponed, it would mean that there is an awareness that what was attempted with Kosovo is a legal inversion and that it will open Pandora's box for all other separatists and factions in various member states of the Council of Europe, says Dunja Simonovic Bratic, a member of the delegation of the Serbian Assembly in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

"Any delay is precious to us and would be a diplomatic success. Those are our desires and hopes, although each of us naturally wishes that this delay could be forever, that is, that their plan to enter the Council of Europe never actually materializes," emphasized Simonovic Bratic for Kosovo online.

After the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe supported the report by Dora Bakoyannis on April 16th, recommending that Kosovo be admitted to the Council of Europe, speculations arose that it’s not excluded that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is scheduled to convene on May 16th and 17th and is the final authority on Kosovo's application, might sideline this issue for some time.

"Since the adoption of Dora Bakoyannis's report in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, several indicative things have happened. A few days ago, Frank Schwabe, president of the Socialists, Democrats, and Greens group in the PACE, stated that the chances for so-called Kosovo's entry into the Council of Europe are 50-50. This was not his stance during the assembly session and before the adoption of the report. They have already started to create some sort of exit strategy, as we have seen from statements criticizing Serbs in Kosovo for actually obstructing the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities. This is somewhat a small German maneuver for an exit strategy if they fail to secure the necessary majority," said Simonovic Bratic.

She adds that what has also been "revealed" in the meantime and what is good for Serbia's negotiating position is that Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani has declared what their path in the Council of Europe means. This, she says, indicates that their goal is not what they advocated in the PACE and for which they received support.

"It's not the primary thesis that Serbs, as a minority, would have greater rights by entering the Council of Europe and accessing the European Court of Human Rights, which is a complete fallacy if we know what is necessary to even reach the European Court of Human Rights and what kind of legal remedies in the primary country need to be exhausted to get there, but the idea is to continue terrorizing Serbs, seeking compensation, and trying to divert attention from the trials of Thaçi, Veseli, and others. In this context, I would say that in these two weeks since the report was adopted, more favorable winds have emerged and many members of parliament are stating that it is indeed necessary for the CSM to be formed and that it would be a proper condition for the so-called Kosovo's entry into the Council of Europe. These statements are indicative that we might succeed in getting this delay. The entire state leadership is engaged 24 hours a day on this topic. Everyone is involved at the highest level in lobbying and presenting facts to countries that might not have been privy to all this," says the Serbian MP.

Asked whether, in the case of a delay in deciding on Kosovo's admission, Pristina would be more motivated to form the CSM, Simonovic Bratic says that Pristina always looks to do nothing.

"They had a constitutional ruling for the Visoki Decani monastery and did not implement it for eight years. In this case, they would look to buy time and maybe they would submit the CSM statute to the Constitutional Court, but we all know how sensitive this topic is and how necessary it is to create conditions for its formation, then to negotiate all the details. This is not something that can be resolved with one decision, so I do not believe that they would substantially work on the ground. And, of course, they rely on the help of their mentors, mostly the Germans, to actually not have to do anything, but to get everything served on a silver platter, as they have more or less received so far," emphasizes Simonovic Bratic.