Serbia promised Thursday, May 12 to "
fight
" against any accession of Kosovo to the Council of Europe, watchdog of human rights on the continent, after having warned that it would resume its fight against the recognition on the international scene of its former province.
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Kosovo announced on Thursday that it had applied to join the Council of Europe, a few weeks after the departure of this body from Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Belgrade has never recognized the independence of Pristina declared in 2008, a decade after a deadly war between Albanian separatists and Serbian forces, no more than Moscow or Beijing, which deprives Kosovo of an entry into the UN.
“Most democratic” country in the region
Kosovo is the "
most democratic, pro-European and optimistic country in the region
" in the Western Balkans, Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz said on her ministry's Facebook account, announcing the submission of Pristina's application for membership.
"In the coming weeks we will do our best to show that we can fight and save our country"
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had warned on May 6 that Serbia would resume its efforts to convince the countries that have recognized Kosovo to renounce this recognition in the event of an attempt at rapprochement with the Council of Europe.
He assured Thursday that Belgrade would do its best to “
oppose peacefully and diplomatically
” to this initiative.
"
In the coming weeks we will do our best to show that we can fight and save our country
," he told local television.
"
Our power is, of course, limited, not great, but life is a fight and we will fight
," insisted Aleksandar Vucic, announcing that he had convened a meeting of the Serbian National Security Council on Friday.
"
There will be no retreat, no surrender to blackmail and ultimatums
."
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In September 2020, under the aegis of former US President Donald Trump, Kosovo agreed to freeze for a year its efforts to try to integrate international organizations.
Belgrade had agreed for its part to stop its campaign to convince the countries having ratified the independence of its former province to "
de-recognize
" it.
Kosovo is recognized by a hundred countries, including most Westerners, and recently by Israel.