German Ambassador: Kosovo Not to Join Council of Europe before it Returns Property to Decani Monastery

Visoki Decani monastery (BETAPHOTO/ARMENIJA ZAJMI BESEVIC)

The German ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said that Kosovo could not join the Council of Europe if the Constitutional Court’s decisions regarding the property of the Visoki Dečani Monastery had been honored.

"We have made a public statement that the Council of Europe is an organization to uphold the  rule of law, and a failure to implement a judgment by your Constitutional Court is a clear violation of the rule of law, and it cannot be the best way to achieve this goal as soon as possible," Rohde said during the "Kalco pernime" show.

The German diplomat said that he considered Kosovo a democratic state, pointing out that in a democratic state there is a guarantor of the constitution, which is the Constitutional Court, and that the Court had made a final decision that needed to be implemented.

"Allow me to repeat that we want Kosovo to become a member of the Council of Europe, because there is great sympathy for Kosovo to join the organization, but now it is up to Kosovo to do its part on the path to membership in the Council of Europe, and even I do not want to repeat the calls all those international organizations or governments have already made, the decision made in the Decani case must be implemented," the German ambassador said.

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo made a decision on May 19, 2016, to return 24 hectares of land to the Decani Monastery.