At the same time as a letter was published in which several dozen Western parliamentarians ask the USA, EU and Great Britain to put pressure on Belgrade, a different message arrived from the officials of Ukraine, which did not recognize Kosovo's independence, regarding the southern Serbian province.
The President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, Aleksandar Merezhko, who is himself a signatory of the aforementioned letter, said that recognition of Kosovo's independence is being discussed in Kyiv, "although it is not easy to make that decision."
Merezhko said that there are deputies in the parliament of Ukraine who support the recognition of Kosovo's independence.
"As a Ukrainian citizen, I see that Kosovo is on the side of Ukraine, since it imposed sanctions on Russia and that it is trying to support us. From the communication I had with my Serbian colleagues, I see some doubts. "Unfortunately, sometimes Serbia leans towards Russia," he said.
After Russia attacked Ukraine, there was a long absence of condemnation from Belgrade officials. Thus, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said that he would condemn Russia's recognition of the independence of the separatist regions in the east of Ukraine, when the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 on television.
This kind of rhetoric was soon abandoned, and it was emphasized that Ukraine was among the first countries to condemn the NATO bombing, as well as the country to which the then JAT fleet was transferred.
However, Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia to date.
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Merezhko pointed out that in response to the support that Kosovo provides to his country, Ukraine should open a liaison office in Pristina. And since Ukraine does not receive support from Serbia, he admitted that Kiev's decision to recognize Kosovo "has its advantages."
Merezhko said that he had spoken with his colleagues from Kosovo several times, while he explained that the purpose of the letter was to try to "stop the escalation and prevent unrest" regarding the letter sent to high-ranking diplomats of the West in which it was emphasized that Kosovo is a sovereign state.
"The goal is to treat both sides equally and fairly," he specified, speaking about the behavior of the international community towards Kosovo and Serbia.
He added that he sees that "the situation in Europe is dangerous" and warned that a possible escalation in the Western Balkans could distract attention from Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression.
BG/FoNet
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