Kosovo Deputy Foreign Minister, Petrit Selimi, in an opinion piece today writes that from the moment that Kosovo applied to join UNESCO, Kosovo government agreed with its allies that Kosovo’s message should be positive, focusing on concrete benefits for Kosovo people who would have better access to development programs for education, science and culture. According to Selimi, promotion campaign based on the burned mosques or old conflicts would not bring long-term benefits for Kosovo, normalization of relations and peace in the Balkans.
“The campaign itself was “low-key” until the moment when Serbia launched a very aggressive and antagonistic campaign against Kosovo’s membership in UNESCO. This campaign has really damaged Serbia in Paris, because many countries were outraged with the level of verbal aggression against Kosovo. This caused Serbia to change its tactics in Paris, where more and more it was stressed the need for dialogue and the need that Kosovo’s membership in UNESCO to be part of the dialogue in Brussels,” Selimi writes. He further notes that Belgrade’s position was not supported by most EU countries. “Germany, USA, Austria and others clearly said that the dialogue in Brussels is not an obstacle, but support for Kosovo’s membership in UNESCO,” Selimi notes.
“Brussels process must continue, because the dialogue with neighbors is an essential condition or “sine qua non” for NATO and EU integration. Kosovo has managed that through dialogue and good neighborly relations, to have as supporters all the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans, for membership in UNESCO. Not a single neighbor of Serbia supported Belgrade in UNESCO. However, it is clear that in the coming weeks, Pristina needs further discussions on the foundation of the dialogue. Belgrade proved that it doesn’t have the slightest interest to normalize relations with Kosovo. Brussels is the one who should restore the rules of the game by guaranteeing that Serbia will not block Kosovo on international processes.”
