The plenary of the European Parliament has this Thursday approved a report on Kosovo which urges Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greece and Cyprus to recognise its independence. "The resolution takes note that five EU member states have not yet recognised Kosovo and invites them to do so, since this would ease relations between Kosovo and neighbouring Serbia," the Parliament said in a press release. The text was approved by 393 votes to 139, with 71 abstentions.
Spain's PP and PSOE members of the European Parliament distanced themselves from the majority votes in favour of their European political groups. Whilst the PP MEPs voted against the measure, PSOE's MEPs abstained. The independent MEP Francesc Gambús, however, a member of the EPP like the PP, voted in favour.
For their part, Catalan party ERC voted in favour of the report. They asked Spain to recognise those states which have been born through the democratic decisions of their national Parliaments, as happened in Kosovo. They also noted that, "sadly", Spain's foreign affairs minister and former president of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, has said that Spain will not change it position with respect to Kosovo.
MEP Jordi Solé (ERC) also noted that Borrell said, in 2009, that Kosovo's independence was "illegal" in the eyes of international law.
Two years ago, the Parliament had already called on Spain and the other four member states to recognise Kosovan independence.