Djurovic: Pristina's CoE bid still not on agenda

STRASBOURG - Pristina's Council of Europe (CoE) membership application has not been included in the agenda of this week's CoE Committee of Ministers meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, says Serbian Ambassador to the CoE Aleksandra Djurovic.

"Pristina's request is not on the draft agenda for the next meeting, distributed to member states at ambassadorial level and to be discussed on Wednesday," Djurovic told Tanjug.

She said there was always a possibility of the application being included in the agenda, but added that she believed that would not happen.

Previously, Pristina's membership request was also not on the Committee's agenda for a February 1 meeting after the ambassador of Iceland, who chaired the meeting, did not propose its inclusion.

"At a meeting held on January 18, we had a debate on the issue and it became clear that there is no unified position of member states and that there are differing views about the timeframe in which it could appear on the agenda," Djurovic said in a statement to Tanjug at the time.

The so-called Kosovo officially applied for CoE membership on May 12.

Under CoE rules, consent by a two-thirds majority - or 31 out of 46 member states - is one of the criteria for membership in the organisation.

Thirty-six CoE member states recognise the unilaterally declared independence of the so-called Kosovo.