Jorgic: Serbian delegation walked out of FIDE Congress over absence of footnote on Kosovo sign

President of the Serbian Chess Federation Andrija Jorgic said that the Federation’s delegation walked out of the official FIDE Congress session in Samarkand today and lodged a protest over an omission by the organizers, who had failed to comply with the applicable rules of the International Chess Federation and the international community. During the election of the new FIDE President, the mandatory asterisk and footnote were omitted from the official sign displaying the name Kosovo, which, he said, constituted a direct violation of Resolution 1244 and the applicable FIDE regulations.

Jorgic, who represented Serbia at the Congress together with Elena Stojanovic, told Kosovo Online that he had reacted as soon as he noticed the irregularity and immediately left the congress hall in protest, remaining outside until the organizers corrected the error.

“At the beginning of the FIDE Congress, we noticed that so-called Kosovo did not have a footnote, which is mandatory under FIDE rules and Resolution 1244 and must be displayed. It was not shown on the sign, so we responded by leaving the hall. I demanded that FIDE officials rectify the irregularity. It took about 10 to 15 minutes; they added the footnote, and the Congress was then able to continue,” Jorgic explained.

Jorgic stressed that such an incident had not occurred before and that, in cooperation with the organizers, they always sought to prevent situations of this kind.

“We have been discussing this for quite some time in order to avoid such encounters at the Olympiad because, under FIDE rules and Resolution 1244, the status of so-called Kosovo has absolutely not been resolved, so we never face each other over the chessboard. On the other hand, at events such as this one, there must be a sign displaying the required footnote, and they promised that this would not happen again. They apologized, particularly since we are in Uzbekistan, a country friendly to us that has not recognized so-called Kosovo, and the officials and representatives of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation fully understood the situation,” Jorgic said.