6. Kosovo’s membership of the Council of Europe would be the culmination of a dialogue which hasdeveloped over a span of two decades but should in no way be seen as the end of a process. On thecontrary, membership should catalyse momentum for Kosovo to continue to make progress in strengtheninghuman rights, democracy and the rule of law and address outstanding challenges and matters of concern.

7. Amongst such issues are a gap between the normative framework and its effective implementation; theneed to improve the protection of the rights of non-majority communities and to foster a climate and publicdiscourse which is conducive to trust, reconciliation and inclusion; focusing on language, education and youthpolicies to ensure that Kosovo’s multi-ethnic society is cohesive rather than fragmented along ethnic orlanguage cleavages; ensuring full compliance with the rule of law irrespective of political considerations;promoting interinstitutional respect; and strengthening the quality and efficiency of the judiciary.

8. Since Kosovo applied for membership of the Council of Europe, the security situation in Kosovo’snorthern municipalities has considerably deteriorated in parallel with a stall of the normalisation of relationswith Serbia and in the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade facilitated by the EU Special RepresentativeMr Miroslav Lajčák. Many events have contributed to a serious escalation of tensions, including: landexpropriations; the decision to enforce the use of Kosovo car licence plates; violent demonstrations; the massresignation of Kosovo Serbs from the police, the judiciary and public offices; local elections which gave resultsdeprived of democratic legitimacy; the use by the Kosovo authorities of the special police for ordinary policetasks; and the enforcement of the decision to introduce the euro for financial transactions to the exclusion ofother currencies, later postponed.

9. On 24 September 2023, a major security incident in Banjska resulted in the death of a Kosovo policeofficer and three Serb assailants. The gravity of this attack, its consequences and the attackers’ connectionswith Belgrade abundantly showed that the risk of open violence in Kosovo is all too real and that securitydepends on the protection of the rights of the Serb community, the de-escalation of tensions and thenormalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

10. Against this background, the Assembly welcomes as a major breakthrough the implementation, on14 March 2024, of the judgment of the Constitutional Court in the case of the Visoki Dečani monastery, whichhad been awaiting execution since 2016. Its implementation is a tangible sign of the commitment of thegovernment to act in full accordance with the rule of law, irrespective of political considerations. The Assemblyand the Committee of Ministers should continue to follow this matter with a view to ensuring that the judgmentis fully implemented.

11. The Assembly considers the establishment of the Association of Serb majority municipalities animportant step and a way to enhance the democratic participation and empowerment of Kosovo Serbs andensure the protection of their rights. The Assembly considers that the establishment of the Association shouldfeature in the Committee of Ministers’ future consideration of Kosovo’s application to accede to the Council ofEurope, as a post-accession commitment for Kosovo.

12. Furthermore, the Assembly expects that expropriations are conducted in the strictest respect of the lawand that any future legislation in this area is fully in compliance with the Ahtisaari Plan, including with regard tothe protection of the properties of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In this context, the Assembly recommendsthat the draft Law on Expropriation of Immovable Property which has been submitted to the Assembly ofKosovo be amended accordingly, at the earliest possible date.

13. Against this background, the Assembly welcomes the commitment made in a letter dated 3 March 2024by Mr Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo, to sign and ratify an extensive list of Council of Europeconventions, including:

13.1. at the time of accession: the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 5);

13.2. within one year of accession:

– the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe (ETS No. 2) andits Protocols Nos. 1 and 6 (ETS Nos. 10 and 162)

– the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS No. 157)

– the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (ETS No. 148)

– the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women anddomestic violence (CETS No. 210)

– the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Being (CETS No. 197)

II SÉRIE-D — NÚMERO 4 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

22