France requests the postponement of decision on admission of the so-called of Kosovo in the Council of Europe

The portal states that, although Kurti's government has constantly claimed that Pristina has fulfilled all the conditions necessary for membership in the CoE, countries with decisive influence such as France and Italy have long informed Kurti that the start of significant steps towards the implementation of the CSM agreement is an insurmountable condition for CoE membership.

The Albanian Post adds that the process seems to have entered a decisive phase and that the latest news for Pristina does not look pleasant at all. The portal, referring to diplomatic sources, writes that the last meeting of ambassadors is expected today in Strasbourg before the meeting of the Committee of Ministers, at which a decision on the so-called Kosovo will be made.

The Quint countries are said to have asked Kurti to make progress on the CSM issue by sending the statute to the constitutional court for consideration.

"Taking into account the fact that, despite the commitments, Kurti's government has not taken any steps in that direction, France has sent a note to the member countries of the Council of Europe, asking for the postponement of the decision on Kosovo," the Albanian Post says, adding that it is expected that the ambassadors of the member states will raise the issue of the membership of the so-called Kosovo not being included in the agenda of the meeting of ministers in May.

The Albanian Post assesses that, although Germany's position has not been clear so far, it seems that that country also now takes the position that Kurti's government must take concrete steps regarding the CSM in order to gain membership in the CoE.

France, Germany and Italy are already of the opinion that Pristina's membership in the CoE can be postponed until the moment when the government proves its commitment to the implementation of the CSM by sending the draft to the constitutional court, but such an approach was not supported by Great Britain, according to which the issue of the CSM should not be confused with the question of membership in the CoE, the portal writes.

The Albanian Post estimates that, despite the epilogue of the ambassadors' meeting, there is a technical possibility that Pristina's request will be on the agenda a few days before the meeting of the Committee of Ministers, but that "it is clear that this will not happen in the absence of visible progress towards the implementation of the CSM".

French President Emmanuel Macron, in a recent telephone conversation with Kurti, pointed out that, in the context of Pristina's request for membership in the CoE, Paris attaches great importance to the progress in establishing the CSM, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a conversation with Kurti, emphasized the importance of Pristina's concrete steps towards the establishment of the CSM and in the context of submitting an application for CoE membership.

The formation of the CSM is, by the way, an obligation of Pristina under the Brussels Agreement, but Pristina has refused to implement it for 11 years.

On April 16, the CoE Parliamentary Assembly adopted the recommendation that Pristina become a member of the Council of Europe, and the final decision is taken by the Committee of Ministers, whose meeting should be held from May 16 to 17 in Strasbourg.

Rapporteur for the admission of the so-called Kosovo, Greek MP Dora Bakoyanni recommended admission, even though only one of the three conditions she originally demanded from Pristina was met, namely the return of the land to the Visoki Dečani monastery, eight years after the constitutional court ruled that the land must be registered in the cadastre as property of the monastery.

The other two conditions - the formation of the CSM and solving the issue of land expropriation in municipalities where mostly Serbs live - Prishtina did not fulfill.