CoE, Albania “forgets” Kosovo

Regardless the patriotic declarations, there have always been suspicions that politics uses this simply for electoral reasons.

This was proved this Tuesday in Strasbourg, when the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly voted the Resolution “Situation in Kosovo and the Council of Europe Role”, proposed by the Swedish MP, Bjorn Von Sydov, which was voted with 15 votes in favour, 11 against and 5 abstains.

The Albanian MPs were the ones missing in this session. None of them was present during the voting or discussion.

The resolution demanded the intensification of dialogue between the political forces in Kosovo and intensifying the war that is related with corruption and organized crime.

None of the Albanian delegation MPs has travelled to Strasbourg, while the resolution for Kosovo has had no lobbying from Albania.

The absence of Albanian MPs has caused the first reactions in Tirana. Socialist MP Taulant Balla blames the Parliament Speaker.

“Jozefina Topalli is responsible for this shame. The absence of Albanian MPs is her direct responsibility”, Balla declared.

“How can Albania be absent in the voting of a resolution for Kosovo, when we know that Russia has strong influence and their MPs voted against this resolution? Albania’s vote is not important only for the numbers, but also for regional politics”, he added.

Balla claimed that the Albanian MPs in this Parliamentary Assembly at the Council of Europe should have made amends and raised their voice for the Presheva monument which was removed by the Serbian authorities recently.

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