Ten countries in Africa and the Middle East intend to withdraw the recognition of Kosovo's independence.

This was reported by the Serbian edition "Politics" with reference to its sources.

According to him, the names of the states have not yet been disclosed so that the United States will not try to put pressure on them.

However, it is noted that Belgrade has already been given guarantees to take such a step if Kosovo again raises the issue of its recognition at the international level after the end of the annual moratorium on Pristina's campaigning for recognition of its independence and lobbying by Belgrade to withdraw this recognition.

The corresponding agreement will expire in September 2021.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia stressed that the authorities continue to adhere to their obligations under this agreement.

“The Washington agreement established an agreement that Belgrade will not campaign to withdraw recognition (independence of Kosovo -

RT

), and Pristina, in turn, will not apply for membership in international organizations and will not conduct a new campaign for recognition.

We fulfill our obligations and we will adhere to them, ”said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the republic Nikola Selakovic.

However, he noted, if Pristina herself violates the moratorium, then Belgrade “knows what to do”.

The statement of the foreign minister was also supported by his deputy Nemanja Starovich.

In an interview with RT, he noted that Belgrade is ready for any steps by Pristina, including violation of the Washington Agreement.

“I can confirm that there is no naivety in the state leadership of Serbia that would make us unprepared for an adequate response to the violation of the Washington Agreement by Pristina.

Namely - on their attempts, which could have followed after the expiration of the moratorium in early September, ”Starovich said.

He also said that there are countries that want to reconsider their decision on Kosovo without any influence from Belgrade.

Annual vacation

Recall that the moratorium was one of the points of the agreements that were signed by Serbian leader Aleksandr Vucic and then Prime Minister of partially recognized Kosovo Avdulla Hoti in Washington on September 4, 2020, with the mediation of the 45th US President Donald Trump.

At the same time, as Vucic emphasized, the Serb leadership and the Kosovar Albanians signed separate bilateral agreements with the United States.

Thus, he said, Kosovo is not recognized as an object of international law.

“We have signed a bilateral agreement with the United States, it is important that this is not a trilateral agreement.

Thus, the agreement does not recognize Kosovo as an object of international law, ”TASS quotes the head of Serbia.

According to Starovic, Serbia benefited from this moratorium, since the constant clashes with representatives of the self-proclaimed republic and its patrons in the international arena "were burdensome for Serbian diplomacy and made it difficult to realize Serbia's overall foreign policy goals."

“In this regard ... a kind of annual 'vacation' was very useful for us.

The moratorium was intended to somewhat defuse the atmosphere in order to create an environment for a dialogue on the merits between Belgrade and Pristina, to which our side is absolutely committed and sees no other alternative, "the deputy minister told RT.

He also stressed that Belgrade would be ready to extend this period if the process of settling relations with Pristina moved in a positive direction.

“However, in recent months, the entire international community has been able to make sure that Pristina does not even intend to implement any of its commitments spelled out in the 2013 Brussels Accords.

Nor is he going to fulfill the agreements concluded in the White House less than a year ago, "Starovich added.

  • Heads of Serbia, USA and Kosovo at the signing of the Washington Agreement

  • Reuters

  • © Leah Millis

Meanwhile, Mikhail Lobanov, associate professor at the MSE MSU, expressed the opinion that the performance of these ten countries would be very useful for Serbia, since this could be interpreted as a major victory for Belgrade.

"Now it is beneficial for Serbia that ten countries simultaneously withdraw the recognition of Kosovo, this will be a success that is comparable to the effect of a bomb exploding in the Balkans, including this will not go unnoticed by the EU," Lobanov explained in an interview with RT.

He also suggested that Serbia realizes the unreality of coming into contact with the current leadership of Kosovo, which takes a rather aggressive and categorical position in the negotiations. Therefore, such messages about the intentions of a number of countries "can be a kind of response to the slipping of the process."

Let us remind you that Serbia and Kosovo have been negotiating to achieve peace since 2013.

However, in 2018 they were interrupted due to the aggravation of the situation in the region.

Then the Kosovar authorities imposed trade duties against Serbia at a rate of 100%.

In response, Alexander Vucic said that Belgrade does not intend to negotiate in such conditions.

However, in July 2020, negotiations between the Serbian authorities and the Kosovar Albanians were resumed again through the mediation of the European Union.

As the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, reported, Brussels is in favor of signing a comprehensive final legally binding agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

False start

As noted by Politics, Kosovo President Viosa Osmani visited Tokyo as part of the Olympics, where she met with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

She named Japan a strategic partner and asked to support Pristina in its claims for membership in international organizations and in gaining new recognition.

Earlier, the head of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, issued a statement that he would seek international recognition for Kosovo.

In particular, according to him, he intends to discuss this issue with US President Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly.

“We are working hard to ensure that there are more countries in the world that recognize Kosovo.

At this stage, we have to re-discuss these issues at meetings with Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this year.

We would like to seek recognition of Kosovo together, and we will offer him this option, ”Erdogan said.

  • Celebrating Independence Day in Kosovo

  • AFP

  • © Armend Nimani

In response to this, Alexander Vucic recalled that it is impossible to make any statements about the status of Pristina until September, stressing that he will try to influence his Turkish counterpart and his views on the self-proclaimed republic.

“I'll try to talk to him.

Until September 1, we must refrain from trying to convince (countries to withdraw the recognition of Kosovo. -

RT

), but if they start before that time ... Turkey is a superpower, Erdogan is a great leader, I am small and insignificant, but Serbia is not so small as not to try to prevent this, ”said Vucic.

Nemanja Starovic emphasized that over the past few years Serbia has managed to convince 18 states to reconsider their decision to recognize the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo.

“Thus, the total number of states that recognize the illegal secession of our southern province was reduced to less than half of the total number of UN members.

At the same time, we managed to prevent the attempts of the so-called republic of Kosovo to join a number of international organizations, such as UNESCO and Interpol, ”said the Deputy Foreign Minister of Serbia in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, Milovan Dretsun, a deputy from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, chairman of the parliamentary committee on Kosovo and Metohija, admitted that there are quite strong international players on the side of Pristina, including the United States and Turkey.

“So we expect a powerful campaign by Pristina, which, of course, cannot do anything by itself, but will have very strong support from a number of Western countries that will try to ensure its advancement in the international arena,” Dretsun told RT in a commentary.  

However, he pointed out, Serbia also has strong support for its interests from Russia and China.

Georgy Engelhardt, a researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has a similar opinion.

"Recently, Serbia, with the support of Russia, has been conducting a certain political campaign against Kosovo, and has made a number of successes, which causes great nervousness in both Pristina and Washington," he explained in an interview with RT.

Your own enemies

Meanwhile, experts agree that Kosovo is now not in such an advantageous position to defend its claims to independence as it used to be.

In many ways, they say, this is the result of the unrestrained policies of the new Kosovar Prime Minister, Albin Kurti.

“Pristina is conducting a very aggressive campaign of intolerance towards the Serbian people who live in Kosovo and Metohija.

They also reject all the initiatives that Serbia proposes for rapprochement within the framework of economic cooperation between the countries of the region, "Milovan Dretsun explained in a conversation with RT.

In particular, he pointed out, Kurti was hostile to the Open Balkans initiative.

“Thus, all Pristina's intentions are clear: to pursue a policy aimed at creating even greater tension, provoking conflicts and destabilization not only in relation to Kosmet (abbreviated from Kosovo and Metohija. -

RT

) and Belgrade, but in general , within the entire region, ”said Dretsun.

In turn, Nemanja Starovich emphasized that Albin Kurti, even more vehemently, compared to his predecessors, rejects any idea of ​​a compromise.

“By refusing to implement the previously signed agreements, he completely makes the whole process of dialogue meaningless.

And although such attitudes of Kurti are faced with criticism from most capitals of the political West, at the moment there are no prerequisites for the fact that concrete measures will follow the already mild rhetorical condemnation, ”Starovich said.

In such circumstances, he added, there is growing concern in Belgrade about possible unilateral measures by Pristina that would threaten the security of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

The deputy minister's fears were called fair by Mikhail Lobanov.

According to him, the behavior of the current authorities in Kosovo testifies to the impossibility of conducting any negotiations with him.

“Unlike the previous Kosovo leadership, which went to contracts and negotiations with Belgrade, the current one demonstratively does not make contact, tries to provoke the Serbian leadership in order to piss it off.

In such a situation, there is no need to talk about a constructive agenda for negotiations, ”the expert summed up.