Kosovo’s foreign minister has announced sanctions against Russia in solidarity with EU and U.S. measures against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, news agency TASS reported, citing the Serbian B92 television channel.
In the late 1990s, Russia and the West almost came to blows over Kosovo when NATO sought to end ethnic violence in the region by bombing Serbia, a historical Russian ally. Despite fierce Russian resistance, Kosovo declared independence in 2008 under NATO protection.
“We intend to maintain international order, as well as the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj was quoted as saying by TASS on Wednesday. “Thus, Kosovo seeks to show that it is a reliable ally of the Euro-Atlantic partnership.”
The EU and U.S. have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russian companies and individuals.
Although Hoxhaj did not specify what exactly Kosovo would sanction, the move surely throws the dirt in the eyes of many Russian pundits and politicians who see NATO’s intervention in Kosovo during the 1990s as a precursor to what they see as the West’s meddling in Ukraine.
