Dacic: "Shameful day" at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

2024-04-16 22:32:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Dacic: "Shameful day" at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, said that April 16 is a "shameful day in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe", since the majority of its deputies supported Kosovo's membership in this organization.

With 131 votes in favor, 29 against and 11 abstentions, the Parliamentary Assembly supported Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe during a plenary session on Tuesday in Strasbourg.

Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) quoted Dacic as saying that Serbia will continue its fight "with all its might" so that the decision is not approved at the Committee of Ministers on May 16.

"We will see the value of the word that the international community gave to President Aleksandar Vucic, that Kosovo would not be admitted to the Council of Europe until it establishes the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. Otherwise, it will be a lie again", said Dacic.

Kosovo and Serbia reached agreement on the Association in 2013 and then in 2015 on the principles for its establishment, but Prishtina has not established it.

Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe in May 2022 and took a step forward towards membership when on March 27, the Commission for Politics and Democracy of this organization approved the report of the rapporteur for Kosovo, Dora Bakoyannis, where it is said that Kosovo fulfilled the conditions to become a full member of this international organization.

The Council of Europe is an international organization for human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, founded in 1949.

46 countries are part of it, including 27 member countries of the European Union and all the countries of the region.

On two occasions, Serbia voted against Kosovo's request for membership in the Council of Europe, although it is required not to oppose the neighboring country's membership in any international organization in accordance with the Basic Agreement that the parties reached in EU-mediated dialogues. in February 2023.

The EU says that the Framework Agreement is legally binding on Kosovo and Serbia.

But Belgrade officials have repeatedly said that they will not implement all the points of the agreement./ Rel