The acting Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports of Kosovo, Hajrullah Çeku, condemned on Thursday the removal of Kosovo’s flag from the UEFA Congress in Belgrade, calling it a “shameful and unacceptable act.”

In a Facebook post late Thursday, Çeku stated that Kosovo expects clarifications from UEFA and “effective actions to address the responsibility for this violation of their internal rules and this attack on the state of Kosovo.”

A dispute broke out between the Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK) and the Football Federation of Serbia (FFS) over the presence of Kosovo’s flag at the 49th UEFA Congress held in the Serbian capital.

While the Serbian Federation claimed it had removed Kosovo’s flag from the congress venue, blaming UEFA for placing it there, the Kosovar Federation insisted that the flag remained present until the end of the meeting.

Kosovo has been a full member of UEFA since 2016, but Serbia continues to oppose its presence in European football’s governing body, just as it refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence, declared in 2008.

Minister Çeku described the removal of national symbols as a “direct attack on the state integrity of Kosovo,” and said it “must not go without a proper international response.”

“We expect clarifications from UEFA and effective actions to address the responsibility for this violation of their internal rules and this attack on the state of Kosovo,” he wrote.

Çeku also urged UEFA and FIFA to avoid hosting sports events in Serbia as long as the Serbian government continues its hostile stance toward Kosovo’s participation.

“The Serbian state has not changed. It is the same one that committed massacres and genocide just a few decades ago. Back then, as now, it has not spared even sports,” he added.