Council of Europe "status-neutral" on Kosovo

STRASBOURG A session of the Council of Europe (CoE) Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy has determined that the CoE is status neutral on Kosovo and Metohija. This was heard from Ljubica Vasic, head of the Serbian parliament's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who spoke for Tanjug on Monday. Council of Europe "status-neutral" on Kosovo “It is important to underline that the Committee concluded that the CoE is status neutral in the implementation of the project and that the report primarily deals with standards rather than the status, and Serbia will cooperate through UNMIK and EULEX to the benefit of its citizens,” Vasic said summing up the results of the Committee's session held in Turin on December 13 and 14. At the session, Committee's Rapporter on Political Affairs and Democracy Bjorn von Sydow presented the report entitled "The Situation in Kosovo and the Role of the Council of Europe", which will be put on the agenda of the PACE regular sitting in January 2013. “This report includes a draft strategy which should enable adherence to the European conventions through implementation of programs which would enable the establishment of the CoE monitoring, and the programs would be based on important CoE conventions referring to human rights, the rule of law, women's rights and media ownership,” Vasic said. Vasic said that the amendments, which she submitted, underlined the importance of status neutrality of all international factors, including the CoE, precisely for the processes which should lead to the normalization of the situation in Kosovo-Metohija. “Serbia should definitely offer support to the CoE in the programs which help the rule of law, the fight against corruption, ethnic equality and the implementation of the joint European values, and Serbia is clearly interested in the solution which should satisfy the legitimate rights and interests of Serbs in Kosovo,” Vasic said. The focus would be on the fact that the direct cooperation between the CoE and the Pristina institutions would be in opposition to the CoE Resolution which reads that in the dialogue with the representatives of political forces that have been elected in the Kosovo parliament, one must bare in mind the legitimate interest of Serbs, including UNSC Resolution 1244. “I reminded the rapporteur that aside endangered safety of Serbs in Kosovo, we also have a problem with protection of cultural heritage which we should be addressed very carefully, and also about the fact that 40,000 Serbs are still waiting for Kosovo registry plates which Albanians have already received, the report of the EC Court of Auditors on Kosovo, particularly the parts that are factual in terms of the situation in the field,” she said. Vasic also pointed to the problems that the Serb community is facing on a daily basis, and particularly to the problem of return of internally displaced persons and the issue of security. (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

Council of Europe "status-neutral" on Kosovo

“It is important to underline that the Committee concluded that the CoE is status neutral in the implementation of the project and that the report primarily deals with standards rather than the status, and Serbia will cooperate through UNMIK and EULEX to the benefit of its citizens,” Vasić said summing up the results of the Committee's session held in Turin on December 13 and 14.

At the session, Committee's Rapporter on Political Affairs and Democracy Bjorn von Sydow presented the report entitled "The Situation in Kosovo and the Role of the Council of Europe", which will be put on the agenda of the PACE regular sitting in January 2013.

“This report includes a draft strategy which should enable adherence to the European conventions through implementation of programs which would enable the establishment of the CoE monitoring, and the programs would be based on important CoE conventions referring to human rights, the rule of law, women's rights and media ownership,” Vasić said.

Vasić said that the amendments, which she submitted, underlined the importance of status neutrality of all international factors, including the CoE, precisely for the processes which should lead to the normalization of the situation in Kosovo-Metohija.

“Serbia should definitely offer support to the CoE in the programs which help the rule of law, the fight against corruption, ethnic equality and the implementation of the joint European values, and Serbia is clearly interested in the solution which should satisfy the legitimate rights and interests of Serbs in Kosovo,” Vasić said.

The focus would be on the fact that the direct cooperation between the CoE and the Pristina institutions would be in opposition to the CoE Resolution which reads that in the dialogue with the representatives of political forces that have been elected in the Kosovo parliament, one must bare in mind the legitimate interest of Serbs, including UNSC Resolution 1244.

“I reminded the rapporteur that aside endangered safety of Serbs in Kosovo, we also have a problem with protection of cultural heritage which we should be addressed very carefully, and also about the fact that 40,000 Serbs are still waiting for Kosovo registry plates which Albanians have already received, the report of the EC Court of Auditors on Kosovo, particularly the parts that are factual in terms of the situation in the field,” she said.

Vasić also pointed to the problems that the Serb community is facing on a daily basis, and particularly to the problem of return of internally displaced persons and the issue of security.