Italian Ambassador to Serbia Luca Gori said the time for Kosovo to join the Council of Europe (CoE) has not yet come and emphasized that substantial progress in forming the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) is a prerequisite for this to happen.

This is a position taken jointly by Italy, France, Germany and other European Union member states, and this is what we are trying to achieve in Strasbourg, Gori told the Tanjug news agency regarding the request to delay the CoE decision on Kosovo’s membership.

The Ambassador added that Italy has been very clear and that it believes the formation of the CSM is essential for the Belgrade-Pristina normalization process.

We are certain that if there is no substantial progress regarding this goal, it is not the right time to address or include on the agenda the issue of Kosovo’s membership in the CoE, said Gori.

He said Italy is trying to encourage the Kosovo government to make progress on the CSM, but that there has been none so far.