Kosovo has criticized the Council of Europe for its decision to not hold a vote on its membership, stating that this deprives its people, especially ethnic minorities, of the democratic tools offered by the organization. The council’s foreign ministers meeting did not include Kosovo’s membership on the agenda, as some members required Kosovo to create an association of Serb-majority municipalities before a vote could take place. Kosovo is concerned that this setup could lead to another Republika Srpska, with broad autonomy, which is the part of Bosnia-Herzegovina run by ethnic Serbs.
The Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz condemned some countries for siding with Serbia after a lobbying campaign against Kosovo’s membership, which she believes deprived the citizens of Kosovo of their rights and opportunities provided by the Council of Europe, especially for ethnic minority communities. Gervalla-Schwarz made a last-minute effort to convince Western powers to hold a vote by offering a draft bill outlining Kosovo’s proposal on Serb-majority municipalities to the Kosovo Constitutional Court by the end of May. However, this effort was not taken into consideration, rendering the letter and offer irrelevant.
Kosovo has fulfilled all the criteria for the council’s membership and has decried the last-minute requirement regarding the association of Serb communities before a vote. The council’s political affairs committee and parliamentary assembly had approved Kosovo’s membership in March and April, respectively, and the foreign ministers’ vote was the final step before Kosovo could be invited to join the Council of Europe. Despite the delay, Gervalla-Schwarz is confident that Kosovo’s membership cannot be stopped, even if it is delayed by opponents or Serbia’s lobbying efforts.
The association of Serb communities is a major requirement for Kosovo in its European Union-facilitated normalization talks with Serbia. It would coordinate work on education, health care, land planning, and economic development in the Serb-majority areas, serving as a bridge with the Kosovo government. Although the establishment of the association was first agreed upon in Brussels in 2013 and approved by the Kosovo parliament, Kosovo’s Constitutional Court later deemed it unconstitutional due to lack of inclusivity of other ethnicities and potential executive powers. The court will now decide if a new draft would align with Kosovo’s constitution, as no new draft has been agreed upon yet.
Normalization talks between Kosovo and Serbia have stalled, with Brussels warning both parties that refusal to compromise jeopardizes their chances of joining the European Union. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s formal declaration of independence in 2008, and the 1998-1999 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo led to numerous casualties. A NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended the war, pushing out Serbian forces. Despite the challenges, Kosovo remains resilient in its pursuit of membership in the Council of Europe and continues to navigate the complexities of its relationship with Serbia in hopes of progressing towards a more stable and inclusive future.
