Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi called it a positive step that Kosovo passed the vote today in the Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In a post on the X social network, he emphasized that this is good news for the country, democracy and European values. "The Affairs Committee recommended that Kosovo be invited to become a member. This is an important step. Our membership in the Council of Europe would be good news for us, for democracy and European values", Bislimi wrote.

Today, the opinion of rapporteur Dora Bakoyannis was approved in the Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy of the Council of Europe, which recommends Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe without any additional preconditions. None of the commitments that Kosovo must undertake are required to be fulfilled before membership. Even in point 11 it is clearly stated that the pledge must be addressed after membership. All the proposals to set new preconditions have been rejected by the majority of the Committee members, which shows that Kosovo should become a member in May of this year and the new preconditions would be unfair, he added.

Moreover, the opinion requires the removal of the footnote from the denomination of Kosovo, which has been used since 2008 in every report and communication on and with Kosovo. Also, it is recommended that Kosovo be invited as a state, according to Article 4 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, and not as a country, according to Article 5. Today's success paves the way for the vote of opinion in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of of Europe, which will be held in Strasbourg in the week of April 15. After the successful voting there, the opinion will be sent to the Committee of Ministers who must vote for Kosovo's membership in the next ministerial that will be held in May this year. Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe will have an extraordinary impact on the promotion and protection of the rights of all the country's communities.