The NATO Parliamentary Assembly approved the recommendation for upgrading Kosovo from an observer member to an associate member.
Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani thanked the members of the NATO Security Council for this decision.
“NATO is the destiny of Kosovo and this approval will allow the voice of the people who are most pro-NATO to be heard. We will continue our efforts with our allies to advance towards NATO membership,” Osmani wrote on the “X” social network.
Delegates of most countries voted during the session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia to upgrade the status of Kosovo to an associate member, while 14 abstained.
The Parliamentary Assembly consists of 281 delegates from 32 NATO member countries, and in addition to them, delegates from 9 associated countries, 4 associated Mediterranean countries, as well as 8 parliamentary delegations of observers participate in the sessions. Although the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is separate from NATO, it serves as an important link between NATO and the assemblies of member countries.
Associate members cannot vote on parliamentary reports, resolutions or leadership, nor participate in the budget of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. But associate members can make resolutions and amendments to resolutions and serve as special rapporteurs in committees to present their perspectives in the reports of the Parliamentary Assembly.
The Serbian delegation also participated in the spring session, which requested that Kosovo not be granted the status of an associate member, and that status is currently held by nine countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence and considers it its territory, but it has committed itself to the Brussels Agreement that Kosovo’s admission to international organizations will not be hindered.
On the other hand, Kosovo accepted the obligation to form the Union of Serbian Municipalities, but for eleven years this obligation has not been fulfilled, and the Kosovo Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervala, points out that Kosovo will not accept the European Union’s proposal for the formation of the Union of Serbian Municipalities if Serbia does not fulfill the obligations it undertook by signing the Brussels Agreement, Fena writes.
