Prenkaj on Macinka’s statement: A temporary spin or has Zeman’s political line returned to key state positions?

Diplomat Albert Prenkaj, commenting on the statement by Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka that the Czech Republic recognized Kosovo’s independence under a certain degree of pressure and could have acted more cautiously, but now does not want to give the issue new momentum, recalls that in 2019, during a visit to Belgrade, Czech President Milos Zeman said he would “consult the Czech government on whether it is possible to revise the recognition of Kosovo.”

During the period when Zeman was in power, Prenkaj adds in a statement to Kosovo Online, Kosovo did not have the possibility to be represented at ambassadorial level, even though the embassy had been opened in the early days after Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

“After interventions by friendly countries in Prague, this issue subsided, until the visit of Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric to Prague. As President Zeman did during the visit of his counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in 2019, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka stated that ‘the government at the time could have acted more carefully, but now we do not want to give it new momentum, we do not want to make theatrical and sudden moves.’ An interesting statement! During President Zeman’s time, it was precisely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague that insisted on not entering, as I would call them, troubled waters. For a foreign minister to make such a public statement, I think this can be interpreted as the result of intense communication between the two states, Kosovo and the Czech Republic,” Prenkaj said.

He points out that raising the level of representation to ambassadorial level should send entirely different signals.

“More positive ones, with enhanced cooperation and new bilateral agreements, and with numerous interstate activities, including exchanges of high-level visits: foreign minister, prime minister, possibly president. Is this statement by the Czech foreign minister regarding the recognition of Kosovo merely a temporary spin during a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Djuric, a consequence of a decline in interstate relations between Kosovo and the Czech Republic, or a signal of changing paradigms in international relations? Or has Zeman’s political line perhaps already returned to key state positions?” Prenkaj said.