Glauk Konjufca, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, held a press conference with his Belgian counterpart, Maxime Prevot, following their meeting. During this conference, among the topics Konjufca spoke about was Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe.
Regarding this issue, Konjufca said that they expect Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe to "happen soon", Gazeta Express reports.
Konjufca also said that they are waiting to receive the questionnaire from the European Union, an issue that has been pending for three and a half years, and which is not being addressed by the EU.
"At the same time, I emphasized, I emphasized the expectations that the Republic of Kosovo has regarding the integration processes, and first of all, the receipt of the questionnaire by the European Union, that is, which is an issue that has been pending for three and a half years, and is still not being addressed by Brussels and the European Union. The support that Belgium has provided in the integration processes of Kosovo so far has been very important for our country and we expect this support to continue in the future stages of our path, also towards the Council of Europe where we expect a membership to happen soon, also on the path, in clarifying our path towards the European Union. In the field of security and defense, Belgium has been an important partner of the Republic of Kosovo throughout all the key moments of our modern history," declared Konjufca.
Regarding Kosovo's non-membership in the Council of Europe so far, Konjufca held the former EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, responsible.
The latter, said Konjufca, has imposed ''a pledge'' on Kosovo that does not belong to it regarding membership in the Council of Europe, which is the formation of the Association.
The country's Foreign Minister said that the Association is not a criterion for membership in the Council of Europe, but rather that the issue of the Deçan Monastery was a criterion, which "has been resolved".
''The Council of Europe, our esteemed friend Prevot said it very well. Look at what a progressive stance Belgium has, there were no conditions, they said 'Kosovo not in the future, but now it must become part of the CoE'. I think that we have been held hostage to something decided by a person who resigned in a rather ungrateful manner, Mr. Lajcak. He has put something on our back that does not belong to us. I myself have been involved in the negotiation of Kosovo's membership in the CoE. It has gone through the parliament, many of the processes, keep in mind, within the framework that is the negotiation for membership in the CoE, the Association of Serbian Municipalities is not a criterion, it is not a criterion for membership. It could be in other processes, we could open other topics, integration into the EU, the status of the candidate country, this is another track. I am talking to you about the CoE, in Strasbourg, there was no condition that was established with the Association. Lajcak has blamed us for this, undeservedly, not to say dishonestly, and he even uses this term in his case. There was only one elementary condition there in the Council of Europe, which was the Deçan Monastery, and the solution to this process, this is the end. And it was the agreement for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. Now what we need is to convince others to be like Belgium. Which says now and here Kosovo must join,'' said Konjufca. /Express newspaper
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