Kosovo Hopes for Recognition from 5 EU Non-Recognizers Soon - Foreign Minister

Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj (left) with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov in Sofia over the week. Photo by BGNES

Some of the five EU states which have not recognized the Republic of Kosovo have started to be "flexible", Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) in an exclusive interview.

Answering a question about how Kosovo's hopes for eventual integration with the European Union reconcile with the fact that only 22 of the 27 member states recognize the young republic, Hoxhaj said  he believes that the five EU non-recognizers of Kosovo's independence declared in February 2008 – Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovkia, and Cyprus – no longer have reasons to withhold recognition after the ruling of the UN Court in 2010.

"One of the reasons these countries in the EU – and there are just five of them – did not recognize Kosovo is that for them this is not an issue of foreign policy, it is an issue of internal politics. I think that after the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice last year, none of these five non-recognizers really has a reason or motivation not to recognize Kosovo because the UN Court was very firm in that Kosovo's declaration of independence did not violate international law, and that the independence of Kosovo is sui generis, that is, it cannot be used and misused by others," Hoxhaj said.

He believes that recognizing Kosovo's independence is the interest of the five EU states, and in the interest of the peace and stability in the region.

At the same time, Kosovo's Foreign Minister has expressed optimism about the young republic's EU prospects.

"I think that the European Union as an organization understands very well the situation on the ground. They are very much in favor of the EU integration process. I think we will be able to have the needed dynamic towards integration," Hoxhaj said.

Full Text of the exclusive interview of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) with Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj READ HERE

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