Kosovo is facing another hurdle in its path towards joining the Council of Europe (CoE), as Western European countries ask for significant steps towards an association for its Serb-speaking minority.
Local media singled out France and Germany as the two countries pushing towards the creation of an association that should ward the Serbian minority in the north of the country working on education, health care, land planning and economic development as a condition to approve Kosovo’s membership next Friday during a vote at the Council of Europe, the foremost human rights association in the area.
Kosovo is wary on the association because it fears that it could lead to a state within the state similar to the Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The association was first approved in 2013 but later Kosovo’s Constitutional Court dismissed it as unconstitutional, as it was not covering other ethnic minorities in the country. Kosovo is not planning on sending any revised law on the issue to the Constitutional Court.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday that “taking the association out of the package, putting it at the centre of gravity as a priority emergency is not possible,” reminding that his country fulfilled all criteria for membership ahead of the vote and that the Council of Europe’s political affairs committee and its parliamentary assembly have both approved the country.
The association was part of a deal signed by Kurti and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic (Aleksandar Vučić). However, both countries are not working towards implementing the various aspect of the deal. US envoy for Serbia-Kosovo talks Gabriel Escobar said at his last conference before leaving the post that “unfortunately both sides have failed to honour that commitment.” Failure to move forward with the established commitments is costing both countries access to funds and its slowing down their EU accession process.
