Kosovo\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Donika G\u00ebrvalla strongly criticized Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, denouncing it as an \u201cattempt to distort history\u201d regarding Kosovo.<\/p>\n
G\u00ebrvalla dismissed Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s assertions that \u201cthe roots of Russian aggression in Ukraine can be traced back to Kosovo\u2019s independence\u201d and rebuked the comparison between Serbia in 2008 and Ukraine today as inappropriate.<\/p>\n
She emphasized that Kosovo\u2019s declaration of independence does not violate international law, UN resolutions, or the UN Charter, citing the International Court of Justice\u2019s ruling in favor of Kosovo\u2019s independence in 2010, following Serbia\u2019s request.<\/p>\n
Vu\u010di\u0107 accused Western nations of \u201cblatantly violating\u201d the UN Charter and Resolution 1244 by recognizing Kosovo\u2019s independence while disregarding the principles they currently advocate.<\/p>\n
UN Resolution 1244, referred to by Vu\u010di\u0107, marked the conclusion of the Kosovo conflict and established the mandate of the NATO peacekeeping mission, KFOR, to protect all Kosovo citizens.<\/p>\n
G\u00ebrvalla contended that Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s remarks constituted an abuse of the UN General Assembly platform, and she highlighted that the only similarity between Russian aggression in Ukraine and the Kosovo case is that Russia is now targeting Ukraine, akin to Serbia\u2019s targeting of Kosovo and Albanians in 1999. She affirmed Kosovo\u2019s support for Ukraine against Russia.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Belgrade, a Moscow ally, did not impose sanctions on Russia after its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February.<\/p>\n
Russian officials had previously drawn parallels between Kosovo and Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin likening Kosovo to Ukraine\u2019s two separatist regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, known collectively as Donbas, in April 2022.<\/p>\n
These comparisons were criticized as being misinformed by Kosovo officials.<\/p>\n
G\u00ebrvalla also accused Vu\u010di\u0107 of violating commitments made in the Agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia earlier this year. According to the agreement, Serbia agreed not to represent Kosovo in international forums and not to oppose Kosovo\u2019s membership in any international organization, including the UN.<\/p>\n
She called on the international community, particularly the United States and the European Union, to condemn Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s rhetoric and remind him of the obligations he undertook under the Brussels and Ohrid agreements.<\/p>\n
The normalization agreement, comprising 11 points, stipulates that the parties shall not hinder each other\u2019s accession to international organizations, grants a high level of self-governance for the Serbian community in Kosovo, and requires mutual recognition of state symbols, along with the implementation of all previous dialogue agreements by both Pristina and Belgrade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kosovo\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Donika G\u00ebrvalla strongly criticized Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, denouncing it as an \u201cattempt to distort history\u201d regarding Kosovo. G\u00ebrvalla dismissed Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s assertions that \u201cthe roots of Russian aggression in Ukraine can be traced back to Kosovo\u2019s independence\u201d and rebuked the comparison […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[1280,300,243,151,284,301,285,787],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n