Philosophical arguments sometimes hold weight, and this may well have been the case between Serbia and Ukraine this week, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic having held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the “inviolability of borders,” following weeks of controversy in the wake of a joint letter written by European politicians criticizing Vucic, the EU and the US on Kosovo.
The open letter, signed by ten parliamentary foreign committees and some 50 European MPs called for the US and EU to pressure Serbia over Kosovo. More interesting is that the letter was initiated by the chairman of the Ukrainian committee on foreign policy, Oleksandr Merezhko, as well as by a UK MP, Alicia Kearns.
Vucic reacted angrily to the letter at the time, stating that he considered Zelenskyy more intelligent than Merezhko and adding that if Ukraine recognized Kosovo as an independent state it would “lose everything in one day.”
The basis of Vucic’s argument lies within the logic of inviolable borders—which he has pointed out applies to both Ukraine and Serbia. Vucic has steadfastly refused to state that Kosovo is not part of Serbia and has often criticized the actions of NATO during the Kosovo war, which led to a state of Kosovo independence—which is not recognized by all EU countries—and in which the country hosts NATO troops to keep the peace.
Following meetings on July 22, Vucic stated in an Instagram post that talks were “good and open.” Some behind the scenes—as reported by Euroactiv.com—suggested that Vucic may have offered to supply Ukraine with weapons in order to prevent Kyiv from recognizing Kosovo independence. Previous US government leaks have suggested that Serbia has already supplied weapons to Ukraine, but Serbia has denied this.
For his part, Vucic has condemned the invasion of Ukraine—often citing the Kosovo argument—even though Serbia retains ties to Russia and has refused to participate in US/EU-led sanctions. Ukraine, for its part, has not yet recognized the independence of Kosovo.
Photo of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by President Of Ukraine from Україна, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
