Kosovo Passes First Step to Council of Europe Membership

The Council of Europe voted on Monday to send Kosovo's application for membership to the organization's Parliamentary Assembly.

"With 33 votes in favour, 7 against and 5 abstentions, CoE Committee of Ministers accepted Kosovo's membership application and initiated the accession process by requesting PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) to prepare an opinion on membership," Kosovo ambassador in Brussels, Agon Bajrami, wrote on Twitter.

Kosovo's Foreign Minister, Donika Gervalla, described the decision as a "historic step, maybe the most important since our independence," noting that over two-thirds of the ministers decided to forward Kosovo's application to the assembly.

"A lot of work remains to be done. The membership process is long and full of challenges. But at the end of the process, the Republic of Kosovo will take its rightful place as a member of the Council of Europe," Gervalla wrote on Facebook on Monday.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani on Twitter said that Kosovo's "flag will soon wave proudly amongst fellow members of the CoE".

Kosovo applied to join the CoE on May 12, 2022. The decision was taken after, on March 16, 2022, Russia was expelled from the Council due to its invasion of Ukraine. This provided an opportunity for Kosovo to join as, without Russia, two-thirds of the member states recognize Kosovo, the required for approval of membership.

The CoE, the main human rights organization in Europe, has 46 member states, including all European Union states.

Two-thirds of the votes are needed for a new country to join. All members of the CoE have signed the European Convention on Human Rights whose implementation is overseed by the European Court of Human Rights, located in Strasbourg....