The Council of Europe did not include Kosovo in its membership, which was opposed by France, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, and Georgia.
The director of the Progressive Policy Foundation and editor-in-chief of the Balkanist.ru portal, Oleg Bondarenko, writes about this in Izvestia, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The expert also points out that currently, after the revocation of its previous decisions, Kosovo is recognized only by a minority of UN member countries - 94 versus 95.
According to him, Kosovo's inclusion in the Council of Europe will mean the end of illusions about European prospects for Belgrade.
“In a situation where Serbian autonomy, unrecognized even by the European Union, becomes a full member of the Council of Europe, and Europeans are seriously discussing the prospects for the inclusion of Ukraine, it becomes obvious that the remaining candidates for EU membership on the Balkan Peninsula have simply been forgotten. Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a common border with the European Union, unlike Kosovo, which created (with the exception of BiH) their own “mini-Schengen”, were and remain cut off from Europe,” writes author.
The publication notes that for Serbia, the lack of prospects for joining the EU against the backdrop of the most rapidly growing economy in the region is an indicative example of the use of double standards.
“According to unofficial information, even a conversation about European prospects is now possible only after joining anti-Russian sanctions, which Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic, like his Bosnian colleague Milorad Dodik, will not do under any circumstances.
And the trial balloon on the topic of Kosovo in the Council of Europe is nothing more than another signal to the overly sovereign Vučić from the “big brother”. Meanwhile, in Serbia itself, for the first time in history, the majority of the population opposes the country’s membership in the European Union - 56% versus 44% among those surveyed,” the Balkanist emphasizes.
He clarifies that at least five EU member states do not recognize Kosovo due to the presence of potentially separatist regions on their own territory.
“Their opinion is being suppressed by Berlin with the new chancellor, who has changed his equidistant position of “watching the Balkans” under Angela Merkel, and London, who, apparently, have decided to “unfreeze” the smoldering Balkan conflicts. Now everything depends on Serbian patience and national willpower to go against the wind,” sums up Vučić.