The Diplomat
The Spanish representatives of the PSOE, the PP and Vox in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted against the entry of Kosovo into this organization, while that of the PNV voted in favor and that of ERC did not participate in the vote. The Assembly recommended on Tuesday by 131 votes in favor, 29 against and 11 abstentions that the former Serbian province be part of the Council of Europe.
Spain forms, with Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania, the group of five countries of the European Union that have not recognized Kosovo as an independent State since it was proclaimed as such in 2008. The position has been maintained by all the Spanish Governments, including other reasons for the independence tensions that exist in Spain, Catalonia and the Basque Country.
Of the 46 members of the Council of Europe, in addition to Serbia – from which the province was separated -, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine do not recognize Kosovo as a State either. Despite this, in Tuesday’s vote, the representatives of Greece, Slovakia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia abstained; Armenia did not participate and Hungary, which does recognize Kosovo, voted against.
With the result achieved, the two-thirds of the Parliamentary Assembly necessary for the request made by Kosovo to join the Council of Europe to be addressed in the Committee of Ministers, the highest body of the organization, which will meet in the middle May in Reykjavík.
For the Kosovo request, formulated in May of last year, to prosper, the favorable vote of two-thirds of the 46 member states – Russia left after the invasion of Ukraine – will be necessary, that is, 31 countries. The Spanish Government, which, in principle, will be represented at the meeting by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will vote against the entry of Kosovo, because to date, there has been no statement in favor of its recognition.
However, since January 1, Spain accepts Kosovo passports, because a European Union agreement came into force to exempt visas for short stays for Kosovo citizens who wish to travel to the Schengen area, the free movement zone.
Although Spain does not recognize Kosovo as a State, its prime minister, the social democrat Albin Kurti, has traveled to our country twice, one of them in November 2022, to attend a meeting of the Socialist International chaired by the head of the Executive. Spanish, Pedro Sánchez. The other, to participate in the meeting of the European Political Community on the occasion of the European Summit held in Granada during the Spanish Presidency of the EU, in October 2023.
