Russian News Agency: Today, recognition for Kosovo withdrew, Serbia doing its best

Most of the countries, which could potentially revote their recognition along the Balkan lines, are already set for such a thing. So it was quoted as saying to the Russian news agency “Tass”, chief of the Centre for the Study of Balkan Modern Crisis at the Russian Institute for Slavic Studies, Yelena Guskova, today, broadcast Periscopi.

“Today, Serbian diplomacy has done much to ensure that a number of countries react to their recognition of Kosovo's independence, thus removing the discussion of this issue at the UN General Assembly,”, she said. “I believe most of the [countries that can revote their recognition of Kosovo's independence] have lifted their decisions so far. However, Serbian diplomats will continue to work along these lines, and any such revocation will be a major victory even in resolving domestic political disputes”, she added, Tass reports.

In addition to Tass, there is currently a pause in negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, with both sides trying to consolidate their positions. While Pristina uses violence and provocations, in particular by imposing the 100 per cent tax on Serbian goods and announcing the creation of its military, diplomacy continues to be a key tool for Belgrade.

Whatever the fact that [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic sometimes announces the military's top alarm and tries to use force language, diplomatic means are Serbia's main arguments. That's why we can't expect anything else from Belgrade”, Guskova was quoted.

The “all these steps on the part of Pristina, which exacerbated the situation, caused Serbia to feel offended because Belgrade was making concessions on the issue all the time [during negotiations with Kosovo], but nobody did anything for Serbs in Kosovo even under the 2013 agreement between Belgrade and Pristina [on normal relations] signed in Brussels, “it said.

Serbia's Foreign Ministry earlier announced that Madagascar was the 12th country to revote recognition of Kosovo's independence. Diplomats in Serbia and Kosovo are making strong efforts to win developed countries on their side. On the one hand, in February, Kosovo's foreign minister said he had received recognition from another country -- that is, Barbados. On the other hand, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Burundi, Suriname, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Lesotto have revoted their recognition of Kosovo's independence.

Kosovo and Metohija's autonomous province unilaterally declared its independence in February 2008. In 2010, her independence was recognised by the UN International Court of Justice. According to Serbia, the Republic of Kosovo is recognised by 104 countries, while Pristina says there are 117 such states. More than 60 countries, including Russia, China, India, Israel, Greece and Spain, oppose recognition of Kosovo, Tass reports. /Periscopi/