"How to stop wave of recognitions"

Daily Politika writes that it is hard to predict what would happen at the UN General Assembly on September 15, while many expect new Kosovo recognitions. Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said that a majority of UN member-states support Serbia’s sovereignty, but that Belgrade would not have an easy task of getting a resolution adopted at the UN. "How to stop wave of recognitions" “We will put in all efforts to make sure to keep new recognitions to a minimum, and to have a Serbian resolution adopted this fall. It will be a very difficult task, but it is not impossible,” he said. Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic is at the African Union summit in Uganda on Thursday trying to convince all African countries that have not recognized Kosovo’s independence yet to remain loyal to Serbia’s stance. Politika’s sources stated that "there would probably not be a huge new wave of recognitions", but that there might be "several dozen countries that will recognize Kosovo soon". Kosovo's ethnic Albanians unilaterally declared independence in February 2008, but Belgrade immediately reject this as an illegal act of secession. “We should wait for the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which will be such that not much will actually change. It will still keep the conflict between Belgrade and Pristina unsolved,” political analyst Dragan Simic said. Even though he said that it was possible that more countries would recognize Kosovo soon, Simic said that “positions are already more or less set between the larger group of countries of the world, which, thankfully, support Serbia’s stance, and the smaller group that stand against it.” Political analyst Djordje Vukadinovic agrees. “The fact is that the ICJ decision will only be one rock in the mosaic of the fight for Kosovo,” he said, adding that the reactions to the decision will have more significance than the opinion itself. He said that the strategy of the Kosovo Albanians for the period after the ICJ opinion was prepared more by “their main sponsors the U.S.” than Pristina itself, adding that the strategy will be timing new recognitions to show that the court decision supports Kosovo’s independence. Responding to recent rumors that at least 40 new countries are ready to recognize Kosovo (along with the 69 that have already done so), Vukadinovic said that this figure is probably over-inflated. He said that Serbia cannot do much about the possible recognitions, and that it would be best to take its case to the UN General Assembly again, though Vukadinovic said that Belgrade might find itself in a checkmate position if the number of recognitions really ends up being high. This analyst added that Serbia’s biggest problem is the lobbying being done by America, not that coming from Kosovo's Albanians themselves. The United States, Vukadinovic concluded, "spent the last months officially and unofficially, everywhere, lobbying for new recognitions of Kosovo".

"How to stop wave of recognitions"

“We will put in all efforts to make sure to keep new recognitions to a minimum, and to have a Serbian resolution adopted this fall. It will be a very difficult task, but it is not impossible,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić is at the African Union summit in Uganda on Thursday trying to convince all African countries that have not recognized Kosovo’s independence yet to remain loyal to Serbia’s stance.

Politika’s sources stated that "there would probably not be a huge new wave of recognitions", but that there might be "several dozen countries that will recognize Kosovo soon".

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians unilaterally declared independence in February 2008, but Belgrade immediately reject this as an illegal act of secession.

“We should wait for the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which will be such that not much will actually change. It will still keep the conflict between Belgrade and Priština unsolved,” political analyst Dragan Simić said.

Even though he said that it was possible that more countries would recognize Kosovo soon, Simić said that “positions are already more or less set between the larger group of countries of the world, which, thankfully, support Serbia’s stance, and the smaller group that stand against it.”

Political analyst Đorđe Vukadinović agrees.

“The fact is that the ICJ decision will only be one rock in the mosaic of the fight for Kosovo,” he said, adding that the reactions to the decision will have more significance than the opinion itself.

He said that the strategy of the Kosovo Albanians for the period after the ICJ opinion was prepared more by “their main sponsors the U.S.” than Priština itself, adding that the strategy will be timing new recognitions to show that the court decision supports Kosovo’s independence.

Responding to recent rumors that at least 40 new countries are ready to recognize Kosovo (along with the 69 that have already done so), Vukadinović said that this figure is probably over-inflated.

He said that Serbia cannot do much about the possible recognitions, and that it would be best to take its case to the UN General Assembly again, though Vukadinović said that Belgrade might find itself in a checkmate position if the number of recognitions really ends up being high.

This analyst added that Serbia’s biggest problem is the lobbying being done by America, not that coming from Kosovo's Albanians themselves. The United States, Vukadinović concluded, "spent the last months officially and unofficially, everywhere, lobbying for new recognitions of Kosovo".