PRISTINA -- Comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have sparked political controversy in Kosovo, with the removal of a large Ukrainian flag in central Pristina and critical comments from the government.Zelenskyy told journalists during a news conference in Belgrade on August 8 that Ukraine’s position on Kosovo’s independence was “unchanged” -- i.e. that Kyiv still did not recognize it.The comment came during Zelenskyy’s first ever visit to Serbia and also amid an ongoing political crisis in Kosovo.“Zelenskyy’s visit and statement on Kosovo became a big deal for the country because it helped grant international legitimacy and whitewash Vucic’s authoritarian regime,” Agon Maliqi, a nonresident senior fellow with the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council, told RFE/RL on August 10.
What Did Zelenskyy Say?Asked whether Serbian officials could count on Ukrainian support for nonrecognition of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, Zelenskyy said Serbia and Ukraine were “partners.”“We respect the territorial integrity of our partners; we respect international law; therefore, our position regarding…Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence remains unchanged,” Zelenskyy said.“Likewise, we are grateful to our partners for their respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including…Crimea’s status as part of Ukraine. Serbia’s position on this has also not changed,” he added.The comments highlighted Ukraine’s sensitivities regarding its own territorial integrity.Russia seized Crimea by force in 2014 and now claims the peninsula as its territory. Likewise, Russia has recognized regions of southern and eastern Ukraine that it partially occupies as independent states. These steps have been widely denounced by the international community.Zelenskyy’s comments also reflected efforts to cement ties with Serbia, which has reportedly been supplying it with ammunition despite Vucic’s friendly relations with Russia."Zelensky did more than simply restate Ukraine’s position of nonrecognition of Kosovo. He allowed Kosovo’s independence to be folded into Serbia’s account of territorial loss and placed it, by implication, in the same conceptual basket as Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian territory," wrote Ramadam Ilazi from the Kosovar Center for Security Studies on August 10."For a country whose modern statehood emerged after mass repression, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, international administration, and a UN-led status process, that comparison is historically inaccurate, careless, and legally false," he added.A Flag RemovedThe response from Pristina was swift. The next day, a large Ukrainian flag that had dominated a prominent downtown location was taken down. The removal was posted on social media by Pristina Mayor Perparim Rama.
