The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in power in Montenegro has supported its deputy, Maja Vukićević, as the head of the Montenegrin delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to vote against Kosovo’s acceptance into this organization.

“Full support has been expressed to the vice president of the party, Maja Vukićević, head of the Montenegrin delegation to PACE, to vote against the acceptance of the so-called Kosovo in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,” the party’s statement published on March 24 says.

PDP is one of the members of the dissolved pro-Russian and pro-Serbian Democratic Front (DF) and constitutes the parliamentary majority in Montenegro, led by the Movement Europe Now, of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.

This party, led by one of the former leaders of the DF, Milan Knežević, advocates for the withdrawal of recognition of Kosovo’s independence, Montenegro’s withdrawal from NATO, and the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

When it came to power at the end of last year, PDP announced that it would not raise these issues.

In the coalition agreement with Prime Minister Spajić’s Movement Europe Now, the parties agreed, among other things, that the government would not make decisions that would call into question Kosovo’s independence, sanctions against Russia due to the occupation of Ukraine, and obligations to NATO.

Kosovo was recognized in 2008 by the Government of the Democratic Party of Socialists, Milo Đukanović, which lost the elections to the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian DF in August 2020, the Democrats, and the URA movement.

The Montenegrin delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe consists of six members, four of whom are members of the government and two members of the opposition.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe submitted Kosovo’s request for membership in this organization to the Parliamentary Assembly in April 2023, thus officially starting the procedures for reviewing Kosovo’s application.

The representative of Montenegro also voted in favor of Kosovo’s request. Some of the pro-Serbian parties in power reacted strongly to this.

Dissatisfied with the fact that Montenegro voted for Kosovo’s acceptance into the Council of Europe, DF deputies demanded a hearing session with the Prime Minister and the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dritan Abazović.

Montenegro’s interest in supporting Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe is in the interest of stability and regional cooperation, Abazović had said during the session of the International Relations Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro in May 2023.

Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe has been reactivated in recent weeks, after, with the request of the government of Kosovo addressed to the Cadaster Agency for the transfer of 24 hectares of land in the name of the Deçani Monastery, one of the main conditions for membership has been fulfilled.

This issue could be decisive for Kosovo’s membership request in the Council of Europe, during the Assembly of that institution, which will be held in April.

If Kosovo gets the green light in the Parliamentary Assembly, then the final word must be given by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe – something that the Kosovar government expects to happen in May.

In May 2022, Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe.