Maliqi: African and Caribbean countries are not important, Kosovo has sponsors in the West

More important than the recognition of African and island countries is for Kosovo to recognize the five EU members who have not yet done so, a political analyst from Pristina Shkelzen Maliqi says.

Maliqi told Kosovo Online that he was not familiar with the information about the nine countries that withdrew the recognition of Kosovo, which was announced last night by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

He pointed out that it was usually about African and island states, whose withdrawal of recognition, he adds, has been bought until now.

"Such recognitions are not important. Kosovo has support and is sponsored by major Western powers. It is turned completely towards the West. Kosovo is looking for support in the West, and in Africa and the Caribbean region, that is, the island states, it has never had access, and they do not have enough of it neither America, nor the West. These are decolonized countries, some of them under the influence of Russia and which are not democratic. I look at these recognitions in that context," underlined Maliqi.

He assessed that these recognitions did not disturb the balance of power.

He says that efforts are being made to ensure that the remaining five EU members recognize Kosovo.

"Out of those five EU members, four are part of NATO and it is more important for Kosovo to win over those countries. There are a few that are close to recognizing Kosovo, but they would first like to reach an agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. After that, Kosovo could become a real candidate for EU membership and to lead all other negotiations," Maliqi emphasized.

He recalled that at the Thessaloniki summit, the EU committed itself that the entire Western Balkans would become part of the Union, as well as that all the countries of the region aspired to that membership.

"What Serbia is doing is the opposite of that. These recognitions are more for internal needs," Maliqi believes.

He said that the Franco-German proposal, which the EU adopted as its own, represented a framework agreement that would enable such progress.

He indicates that he foresees that both countries undertake not to block and hinder each other.

"Now even America is no longer asking for mutual recognition of Kosovo and Serbia, because perhaps it was understood in Washington that Belgrade and Aleksandar Vucic do not want to go that far, because that would destabilize Serbia. And, America does not want the situation to escalate to that extent, but they want to achieve the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, in order to establish stronger frameworks for the path to the EU," explained Maliqi.

He believes that existing mechanisms such as the Open Balkans could be used along the way, to merge with the Berlin process, and to improve the economies of the countries of the region to prepare them for the Union even without formal recognition.

"Practical steps are needed to avoid situations with blockades and barricades, as well as war rhetoric," Maliqi added.