Number of States to Withdraw Recognition of Kosovo to Reach 15 Next Week - Belgrade
The 15th state to withdraw its recognition of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo will become known next week, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Friday
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2019) The 15th state to withdraw its recognition of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo will become known next week, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Friday.
Last Tuesday, the US Embassy in Pristina published a joint appeal of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy to the authorities of Serbia and Kosovo to resume dialogue under the EU auspices in Brussels. The appeal urges Pristina to lift the 100-percent tax on Serbian imports and Belgrade to stop lobbying the withdrawal of Kosovo's recognition among third states.
"We have reviewed the list of 116 states which, as Pristina claims, have recognized the independence of Kosovo. We have scrutinized this list, and the actual number of these states is below 100. There are 14 states that have withdrawn recognition and I already know which state will be the 15th, but I will announce it next week," Dacic said on national television.
This state has already submitted a note to the Kosovar authorities, he added.
"There are more states, but President [Aleksandar] Vucic asked us not to do anything about it this week so that it doesn't look like we act to spite the Quinta Group (the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy).
We constantly work with other counties which have recognized or are undecided about the independence of Kosovo," he added.
The list of states that have revoked recognition of Kosovo includes the Central African Republic, Palau, Madagascar, Solomon Islands, Comoro Islands, Dominica, Suriname, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, Papua New Guinea, Lesotho, and Grenada.
Formerly a province of Serbia, Kosovo experienced an armed confrontation between Serbian security forces and the Albanian-led Kosovo Liberation Army, seeking the status of a constituent republic for Kosovo in what was then Yugoslavia. The conflict triggered unauthorized NATO airstrikes in the region from March 1999 to June 1999 on the grounds that the Yugoslav authorities were allegedly committing ethnic cleansing against Kosovar Albanians.
In February 2008, Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia and has been recognized, as Pristina claims, by over 100 states. Serbia, along with Russia, China, Greece, Israel and several other states, does not recognize it.