Print
See related documents
Recommendation 2006 (2013) Final version
The situation in Kosovo* and the role of the Council of Europe
1. Referring to its Resolution 1912 (2013) on the situation in Kosovo and the role of the Council
of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly reiterates its stance that,
irrespective of the status of Kosovo, the people living there should
enjoy good governance, democracy, rule of law and the same legal
and human rights as other people in Europe.
2. The Assembly notes that in its reply to Recommendation 1923 (2010) on the situation in Kosovo and the role of the Council
of Europe, adopted on 12 January 2011, the Committee of Ministers
affirmed its own commitment to the European perspective of all people
living in Kosovo, acknowledging that “the Council of Europe monitoring
process [would] only be truly meaningful if the relevant and competent
authorities in Kosovo [were] directly involved in the monitoring
process and responsible for following up the recommendations”.
3. The Assembly also welcomes the greater engagement of the Council
of Europe in Kosovo through programmes aiming at strengthening democracy,
human rights and the rule of law and through the activities of its
office in Pristina, which has been reinforced as requested by the
Assembly.
4. However, the Assembly regrets that the Organisation has not
been in a position to implement “other Council of Europe monitoring
mechanisms” in Kosovo, as stressed by the Committee of Ministers
in its reply. At the same time, it welcomes the recent proposal
by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to introduce the
possibility of direct interaction between Council of Europe officials
and the relevant and competent authorities in Kosovo on the basis
of the functional responsibilities exercised by them.
5. Considering that the main challenge lies in the implementation
of human rights and rule of law standards in Kosovo, the Assembly
recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
5.1. further enhance its action to promote human rights and
rule of law standards in Kosovo and expand Council of Europe programmes,
including through the work of key Council of Europe bodies and the
Council of Europe Development Bank, in particular in the following
areas:
5.1.1. implementation of anti-discrimination
legislation;
5.1.2. independence and efficiency of the judiciary;
5.1.3. action against corruption and evaluation of anti-money
laundering measures and the financing of terrorism;
5.1.4. action against trafficking in human beings;
5.1.5. action to promote gender equality, and prevent and combat
violence against women and domestic violence;
5.2. ask the Council of Europe member States to:
5.2.1. put an end to the forced return
of Roma to Kosovo until such return can be shown to be safe and
sustainable, in compliance with Resolution 1768 (2010) on Roma asylum seekers in Europe and with the recommendations
of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights;
5.2.2. continue to provide financial assistance so that existing
action plans aimed at finding a sustainable solution for refugees
and internally displaced persons are followed up by concrete action;
5.2.3. contribute to the relevant co-operation programmes, according
to the priorities set out by the Organisation;
5.3. support the proposal by the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe to ensure that Council of Europe officials are able to
interact and have direct working contacts with the Kosovo authorities
with a view to facilitating the implementation of Council of Europe
activities and programmes, without prejudice to the status-neutral
approach of the Organisation;
5.4. strengthen the relevant work done by the Council of Europe
in conflict and post-conflict regions on the revision and development
of textbooks and teacher manuals, the organisation of teacher seminars
and source material identification, as also stressed in Recommendation 1954 (2011) on reconciliation and political dialogue between the
countries of the former Yugoslavia;
5.5. continue to co-operate closely with other international
actors, in particular the European Union, the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as United Nations agencies, to
improve co-ordination, enhance impact and avoid the duplication
of efforts.