5 hours agoUkraine warns possible recognition of Kosovo state
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)The official Kiev warns a possible recognition of the state of Kosovo. The warning was made by Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar, who is on a visit to Albania on the occasion of opening the Ukraine Embassy in Tirana. According to Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, there should be no parallel between Kosovo and Crime, as, [...]
“Traditionally we have been committed to the country's territorial sovereignty. That's a principle of ours. But for us there is no parallel between Kosovo and Crime. That's because the Kosovo case is something and the crime case is something else. In the case of Kosovo, we have a country that has been recognised by a certain number of states, and in the case of the Crimea, it is talking about a territory that has been forcibly taken from Russia. So it's not a simple matter. We have not recognised Kosovo formally, but if you see our steps there is something. Last year we made the decision to work with Kosovo passports. Now our ambassador here (Tirana) and ambassadors to other parts of the world have received instructions to recognize these passports and not limit travel. Perhaps starting at such small steps, we can reach some results. I'm not talking about a certain perspective, since our formal position. So we have to deal with this case in the circumstances where we are”, Vasyl Bodnar said in Tirana, writes KOHA Ditore.
In January of this year, Ukraine announced via Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko that it will open the embassy in Tirana. He said that at a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, at the same time as OSCE chairman-in-chief, during his visit to Kiev. Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko also said he expects this year to be a “prosperity” of relations between Ukraine and Albania. The opening of the Ukrainian Embassy in Albania became a reality early in September this year, where Ukraine's Ambassador Voldymyr Shkurov presented the credentials to Albania's president, Ilir Meta.
During this year, Albania-Ukrainian bilateral relations recognised an important development, with the opening of the Albanian diplomatic mission in Kiev and the opening of the Ukraine Embassy in Tirana. These steps, on the 27th anniversary of diplomatic relations, marked a new development in empowering relations and co-operation between the two countries. As for the annexation of Crime from Russia, Albania has held a clear and firm position in defence of Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, in the same line as the position of the EU and the US.
