This policy report makes two interrelated arguments. First, it underscores the benefits of Kosovo's accession to the CoE, highlighting that membership is in the interest of both Kosovo's citizens but also in the interest of the CoE itself. Second, this policy report provides a comparative analysis of where Kosovo stands vis-à-vis other CoE and non-CoE members in terms of fulfilling the membership criteria. The report purposefully uses quantitative data from widely used and respected academic resources in order to make the claim that Kosovo does fulfill CoE membership criteria and, moreover, that in all of the key indicators for these criteria, Kosovo performs just as well as - and sometimes even better than - many recent CoE member states. 

This study addresses the essence of state-society relations in Kosovo, that of political obligations. Combining an original analytical framework with rich empirical evidence, the study finds that political obligations are highly connected with the extent to which people's needs are met, their rights recognized and protected, and their agency and capabilities enabled.