For years a noteworthy flaw in Kosovo’s arguments and head-butting with Serbia over recognition as an independent state has been the fact that several EU countries simply do not recognize it as such—but, according to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti now claims that once of those countries, Greece, is finally leaning toward recognition.
“Greece is the first on [the list of countries that does not recognize Kosovo] that is getting closer to recognizing the independence of Kosovo,” Kurti said during an interview with Polish state-run television TVP.
Kurti noted the concerted efforts made to get Greece on board, but also interesting is that this comes at a time when Greece’s relations with neighbouring Albania have been severely stretched over the arrest and continued jailing of a locally elected mayor of Greek origin, Fredi Beleri. Pundits have also noted the complex relationship between NATO, the US, the EU, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
If various reports are to be believed, Rama has a solid relationship with the US and is relatively friendly with Vucic; NATO and the US has grown frustrated with Kurti and more amenable toward Serbia; the EU has tended to lean toward Kurti and grown more and more frustrated with Vucic, who at times directly criticizes the US for various reasons, ranging from the war in Kosovo to its constant pressure on Serbia to join in with sanctions against Russia, due to the war in Ukraine—and this all at the same time that Serbia still has the goal, ostensibly, of joining the EU, possibly by 2030.
If that sounds complicated… well, yes it is, but this dynamic could well be impacted if Greece were to recognize Kosovo. At that point, Kurti’s hope would be that this would set off a chain reaction among other resistant EU states, which include Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus and Romania.
Photo by Arianit, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
