Kosovo Fails to Gain Membership in UNESCO

PARIS – The general conference of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, voted on Monday against accepting Kosovo as a member of UNESCO, since the country failed to gain the support of two-thirds of the votes. The vote over Kosovo’s membership was backed by 92 votes, but 50 votes were against this bid and 29 abstained, while 15 countries did not attend the vote, so the bid fell short of the minimum required 95 votes. Kosovo’s bid will not be resubmitted for a vote until the next general conference of the United Nations organization, scheduled to be held within two years, according to UNESCO officials. Russia and Serbia were the most prominent countries to have adopted an active campaign to prevent Kosovo’s membership to the agency. Kosovo would have gained membership, which was originally proposed by Albania, if it had received the support of at least two-thirds of the countries attending the general conference and also two-thirds of the voters.

See: UNESCO Executive Committee approves Kosovo membership