Kosovo saw the 193 promised recognitions

17 years after declaring independence, Kosovo is in diplomatic limbo, recognized by many states, but outside some of the most important international organizations.

With rapid geopolitical dynamics, observers say that Kosovo risks losing the support of some influential countries. Therefore, they have some recommendations for it.

In the year Kosovo declared independence in 2008, then-Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi promised recognition from 193 countries, which included all member states of the United Nations.

"I confirm again that the state of Kosovo will be recognized not by 100, but by 193 countries. If we compare the recognitions of Kosovo with the other republics that emerged from the former Yugoslavia, a miracle has happened to us."

Thaçi made these comments at a session of the Kosovo Assembly in mid-July 2008, five months after the declaration of independence.

Despite Serbia's objections, the country was at that time recognized by 43 countries around the world, including the US and major European powers.

Two years later, the International Court of Justice, in response to Serbia's request for an opinion, declared the validity of Kosovo's Declaration of Independence, saying that it did not conflict with international law.

For the authorities in Kosovo at the time, this was also an impetus for the world's newest democracy to be recognized internationally.

17 years later, the list published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora in Kosovo on its website includes 117 countries that recognize Kosovo, still far from the promised figure of 193.

The last country to recognize Kosovo was Israel in 2021.

This recognition was part of the Washington agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

Before it, the last country to recognize it was Barbados in 2018, but the intensity of recognitions began to decline since 2015.

In this 10-year period, only 9 countries recognized Kosovo.

The country continues to be unrecognized by two Western Balkan states, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as five European Union states, Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus.

Last October, Foreign Minister Donika Gërvalla said that recognitions do not depend solely on Kosovo.
but also from many other consolations.

Aidan Hehir, from BestMinister University in London, lists several reasons for the stagnation of recognitions. On the one hand, pro-Western states have already run out and most of them have recognized Kosovo. And on the other hand, countries that are aligned with Russia and China, or are sympathetic to Serbia, cannot be easily persuaded.

Hehir says that Kosovo's lobbying has also been centralized.

"Unfortunately, the governments of Kosovo since 2008 have been very, very fixated on the United States and have not made sufficient efforts to cultivate relations with countries outside the sphere of influence of the United States of America. I think especially in the Arab world, in the Middle East, where there are several Muslim-majority countries that do not yet recognize Kosovo," Hehir declared.

Hehir admits that Serbia's non-recognition campaign has also had an impact, with authorities in that country saying they have managed to convince several countries to withdraw their recognition of Kosovo.

Among them are Suriname, Burundi, Liberia, the Solomon Islands, Madagascar, Ghana and others, although authorities in Kosovo do not confirm any de-recognition.

For international relations expert Hehir, the stagnation of recent years also reflects the world in which we live.

"Power is shifting from the West to Russia and China. These countries now have more influence, they offer small countries military or financial aid, making them do five things, one of which is to cancel the recognition of Kosovo. In 2008, 2009, 2010.
"The United States has told small states the opposite. We will give you money if you do these five things, including recognizing Kosovo. So, Kosovo is being hit hard by the winds of change," Hehir declared.

Gëzim Krasniqi from the University of Edinburgh mentions, as he says, another worrying fact about Kosovo.

He says that there are several states within the EU that recognized the country relatively early, but that today have a skeptical stance about its independence.

"First of all, we are talking about Hungary, a country that actually has a pro-Serbian position in relation to Kosovo's membership in international organizations. It is a country that has notified Kosovo, but it is not a country that supports Kosovo's advancement in the international sphere due to the close relations it has developed with the Serbian state," he stated.

Krasniqi emphasizes that beyond the numerical aspect of recognitions, Kosovo must take care to maintain the support of states with great international weight.

Here he mentions the case of Kosovo's application for membership in the Council of Europe last year when it had the numbers, but not the support, to become part of this organization.

"Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen a cooling of Kosovo's relations with some of its main allies in the international sphere and I believe we have all heard the statements earlier by officials, whether from the United States of America, Germany or other friendly countries, who say that we are simply unable to actively engage in increasing the number of recognitions, or for membership in international organizations because we are dissatisfied with the steps that the Government of Kosovo has taken towards implementing the Brussels Agreement," Krasniqi declared.

Rrasniqi says that as recognition, I would also like to add Kosovo's membership in international organizations, which go exclusively through the normalization of relations with Serbia.

This is also a condition that the EU has formally imposed on both Pristina and Belgrade if they want to progress on the path of European Integration.

Krasniqi, a lecturer on nationalism and political sociology, says that whoever forms the new Kosovo government will not have much room for maneuver outside of normalizing relations with Serbia.

He notes that in Pristina there is currently no great willingness to make concessions in the name of normalization, but despite this, he says that one should not remain in a state of stagnation.

"It is important for the Kosovo government to intensify relations with the number of recognizing or non-recognizing states, with which it has common interests, as well as economic exchanges, and to strengthen economic and cultural diplomacy, because in the current circumstances I believe that there is a lot of room for deepening cooperation without de facto recognition, although de facto recognition would certainly be very desirable for Kosovo," he stated.

Hehir from Westminster University also says that the new Kosovo Government, whoever forms it, will need to be more active, initially by presenting Kosovo as a solution to the conflicts in the Balkans.

According to him, Kosovo's embassies in Western countries should also understand once and for all where they are running afoul of Serbian embassies and be more proactive.

"If Kosovo continues to be unrecognized and if some do not recognize it, that will embolden Serbian nationalists, it will encourage those who continue to try to revise the borders of the former Yugoslavia not only in Kosovo, but also in Bosnia. You can see that in the last ten years the rhetoric from the Government of Serbia and the rhetoric from the Government of Republika Srpska within Bosnia has become very aggressive, very belligerent."

Kosovo has been engaged in a dialogue to normalize relations with Serbia since 2011, but few of the agreements reached have been implemented.

Kosovo says the process should end with mutual recognition, but Serbia, which enjoys Russia's support in the international arena, opposes it.Radio Free Europe/