Surlic on UN General Assembly: We should not draw parallels between Kosovo and Ukraine

Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Stefan Surlic, emphasizes that the Kosovo issue is very likely to be one of the topics at the United Nations General Assembly, but that the meeting will not bring about anything that could change the situation on the ground.

Surlic says for Kosovo Online that debates at the UN General Assembly on Kosovo have not contributed to resolving the situation so far.

"The meetings at the United Nations have not led to any real change in the situation on the ground," Surlic said.

When asked how the conflict between Russia and Ukraine affected Serbia's efforts at the United Nations regarding Kosovo, Surlic pointed out that no parallel could be drawn between Ukraine and Kosovo and that the Albanian-Serbian conflict was far from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

"I don't think this issue has a direct connection to Serbia, although some want to link the Serbian-Albanian conflict with the Russian-Ukrainian one, and different interpretations are given here. But we are far from that conflict. No parallels should be drawn. It is truly in everyone's interest here to normalize relations, ensure peace, and provide people with certainty in life at last. Any other scenario implies an escalation of conflict and permanent hostilities. I don't think that benefits anyone, and we must eventually stop with the radical rhetoric, as well as with concrete actions that only cost the people living in Kosovo," Surlic concluded.