The decision of one of these countries to close the liaison office is being considered as a step back in Kosovo’s efforts to advance relations with the five non-recognizing states of the European Union.
Slovakia has decided to close the office in Pristina from January next year, which was justified by the reorganization of the diplomatic network. The Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, during his stay in Belgrade, declared that he will receive the information about the situation in Kosovo from the soldiers of his country, who after 15 years will be part of KFOR.
According to Nexhmedin Spahiu, the interruption of diplomatic communication with the official Pristina and the return of the Slovak soldiers is a step back and this may have been done at the request of Serbia.
“Since Serbia makes propaganda for violation of human rights, violation of the rights of Serbs in Kosovo, KFOR is a kind of guarantee for this, therefore, according to this logic, it would have justified Slovakia to send KFOR forces in order for them to be a kind of protection for Serbs in Kosovo. On the other hand, what serves to receive information from Kosovo, such as the liaison office, has closed. In both cases, it must have been Serbia’s request, that is, on the one hand, that foreign embassies be closed, and on the other hand, that the composition of KFOR should be as many as possible from countries that have not recognized Kosovo”, stated Nexhmedin Spahiu, Political Science lecturer.
The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, in the joint conference with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, announced that his country will send 150 soldiers to Kosovo. He assured Vucic that they will never recognize the state of Kosovo even if they face international pressure.
Spahiu estimates that Kosovo will find it difficult to receive new recognition not only from Slovakia, but also from other countries, as long as the problem with Serbia is not resolved.
“Without raising the Kosovo flag in Belgrade, Kosovo can hardly receive any other recognition. Kosovo’s allies constantly insist that the Brussels Agreement be implemented in order to talk further, to have recognition from other countries of the world. In particular, we should be interested in the recognition of the EU five, then the recognition of Russia and China, while the other countries are then irrelevant. If we insist that Zimbabwe has recognized Kosovo, this does not carry any weight. It is good that as many countries as possible recognize it, but this does not fundamentally change the position of Kosovo in the international arena. Kosovo’s position in the international arena is achieved with the recognition of Serbia, all countries of the European Union, Russia and China. These complete the factorization of Kosovo as an international subject”.
In addition to Slovakia, other unrecognized countries also have Liaison Offices in Kosovo: such as Russia, China, Romania and Greece.
