By Dragan Vitorovic
The Greek conservative newspaper “Kathimerini” in its Greek edition on 28 and 29 October, has published a short interview with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Mr. Albin Kurti.
For most of the interview, Mr. Kurti complaints about the behavior of the Republic of Serbia, while stating that “Greece should recognize Kosovo* as an independent state like Turkey did, and, yet, the recognition coming from Turkey did not disrupt the trade relationship between Turkey and Serbia.” Mr. Kurti further explains how the trade between Greece and Kosovo expands, presenting specific numbers. This hollow argument of Mr. Kurti could be addressed on many grounds since it does not bear any particular international weight. It is more of testing the pulse of the general public in Greece.
On a more significant note, on 27 October, leaders of Germany, Italy, and France issued a Joint Statement addressing the relationship between Serbia and Kosovo.
In their statement, the European leaders strongly urge the two parties “to establish the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities in Kosovo as prescribed in the draft Statute, and on Serbia to deliver on de-facto recognition.” As argued in the article published in March this year, Europe is not in a position to risk any significant disturbance that could increase the political risk, especially not in times of high geopolitical uncertainty. Possibly that is the reason why the Joint Statement concludes with the phrase “In the absence of progress on normalization of relations both Parties risk losing important opportunities.”
The parliamentary and local elections in Serbia will be held on 17 December this year. It appears that the internal dissent in Serbia is growing, and the leadership would need wide support for the incoming decision.
Given the high levels of complexity and uncertainty crawling from the recent event in the Middle East, and resource-intensive war in Ukraine, this winter could prove to be challenging for the already strained European and global economy.
Author: Dragan Vitorovic – International affairs analyst based in Serbia.
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights).