Dencic: At present, there is no foreseeable future in which Ukraine could change its position on Kosovo

Nikola Dencic, Foreign Affairs Editor of Radio Belgrade's First Programme, says that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement that his country's position on recognizing Kosovo's independence will not change should not come as a surprise to Pristina, either now or at any other time, as Ukraine's position is well known and based on several factors. One of them, he says, is that Ukraine cannot advocate recognition of a territory that is not internationally recognized and does not possess sovereignty as understood by the United Nations.

According to Dencic, respect for the territorial integrity of other states is often interpreted as a reflection of friendship and close relations between two countries, but it can also always be viewed from a practical perspective.

"Even before the conflict in Donbas began in 2014, and particularly after that and the annexation of Crimea, and especially since the outbreak of the war in 2022, Ukraine has not been in a position, either publicly or in any international forum, to advocate recognition of a territory that is currently not internationally recognized and does not possess sovereignty as understood by the United Nations. Therefore, Kyiv's position on this issue will certainly remain unchanged," Dencic said.

He added that relations between Kyiv and Belgrade also have a practical dimension, regardless of the extent to which it might be argued that official Belgrade does not enjoy particularly high standing in Kyiv, given that Serbia continues to maintain a high level of relations with Russia and has not imposed sanctions on Moscow.

"That could be interpreted as a certain obstacle, and it certainly is an obstacle to the further development of relations, but it is equally true that Serbia, absolutely everywhere, emphasizes Ukraine's territorial integrity as an indisputable fact. It is also a fact that the two countries have cooperated since the beginning of the war, that Serbia has provided assistance, and that this cannot be called into question. Pristina's calls for Kyiv to recognize Kosovo's independence are driven more by Pristina's efforts to use the overall situation and the war to draw closer to its Western allies and to portray Belgrade as a 'destabilizing factor,'" Dencic said.

He recalled statements asserting that Pristina stands unequivocally with Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, while Serbia is effectively portrayed as Russia's outpost in the Balkans and Serbs as "little Russians," and similar claims, which he said are completely unfounded in political terms.

Although some members of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada have previously, and continue to, state that their country will recognize Kosovo, Dencic said there are no indications that this could happen before the conflict potentially comes to an end.

"At present, we see absolutely no end to the conflict. Therefore, at this point we cannot say that we see a future in which there could be a change in position regarding the ideas expressed by certain members of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada about potentially recognizing Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence. Those statements were motivated more by their attitude toward Serbia, which continues to maintain a high level of relations with Moscow, than by any concrete ideas or initiatives. There are certainly people on both sides who would support such an idea, but at present it cannot be implemented in practice, and I do not believe there is any indication that it could happen in the near future, or perhaps even in the more distant future," Dencic concluded.