22 Jul 14
Kosovo minister say two more states plan to recognise its statehood by September, though neither country has been named and such predictions have proved false in the past.
Pristina
Enver Hoxhaj, Kosovo’s outgoing Foreign Minister, said that two more countries planned to recognise its independence this summer.
“I expect… two more recognitions of Kosovo by September, while I am convinced that the next meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations will be another great event where Kosovo will get more recognitions,” Hoxhaj said.
He did not specify the states in question but indicated that one was in Africa. Hoxhaj made his comment after meeting the Foreign minister of Togo, Robert Dussey, in Pristina.
The West African state recognized Kosovo in July, bringing the number of states that have recognized the country up to 107.
Hoxhaj’s announcement comes as Kosovo is struggling to establish a new government amid legal disputes between the political leaders related to the right to form the new government and the election of a speaker of parliament.
Besa Shahini, a political expert, told Balkan Insight Kosovo needs more than a new government if it want to be recognised by more countries.
“So far, we have had a stable government, which was not able to ensure enough recognitions to enable Kosovo to become a member of different international organizations. The same will happen with the new government it we don’t have a strategy on ensuring recognitions,” she said.
Kosovo’s recognition process has been marred by uncertainties over the real number of recognitions since the country declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Apart from Serbia and its diplomatic ally, Russia, five EU member states have notably refused to recognise Kosovo: Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Slovakia and Romania.
Shahini said it was “unrealistic” to expect any change in the standpoints of these EU states.
“There were a lot of promises by minister Hoxhaj and deputy minister [Petrit] Selimi that Slovakia and Greece would recognize Kosovo, but this was not correct. The statements coming from officials of these countries prove that,” Shani concluded.
