German Diplomat Criticises Kosovo Opposition

The nationalist movement recently started spraying graffiti in downtown Pristina with the words “Republic of Kosovo” (in original Albanian “Kosova Republikë”) in response to suggestions that the name may not be used in talks with Serbia on regional forums.

Serbia still considers Kosovo a southern province and refuses to recognise its independence. It says Kosovar delegations in regional cooperation gatherings should be referred to as “Kosovo 1244” -- a reference to the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended Serbian control of the territory but left its final status unresolved.

The government of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, has rejected Belgrade's position. The dispute between the two sides has left talks under EU auspices deadlocked.

According to local media reports, EU envoy Robert Cooper has proposed simply using the name “Kosovo” as an alternative acceptable to all the EU 27 member states -- five of which have not recognised Kosovo as an independent country.

Vetevendosje has argued that “Kosovo” alone without the prefix “Republic of” represents a breach of the constitution.

“The new campaign by Self-Determination over the denomination “Republic of Kosovo”, which says that any other denomination is against the constitution and a high betrayal, is nothing more than the kindergarten politics of children,” said a press release issued in Albanian by the German Embassy on behalf of its ambassador.

“In the EU, OSCE or UN, and any other international forums, the German delegation usually sits in front of a name plate with the word “Germany” and not “Federal Republic of Germany.” This same goes for the “Republic of France” or the “Kingdom of Holland” and almost all other countries. There is no reason why it should be different in Kosovo's case,” the press release quoted Reichel saying.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, who has been put under pressure by the Self-Determination movement's actions, said last week that Pristina will continue to look for a solution on the name issue and “no solution” had yet been found with Belgrade.

Pristina’s envoy to the talks, Edita Tahiri, has said that Kosovo refuses to accept any reference to U.N. Resolution 1244 and considers it a “Red line which will not be crossed”.

When it comes to regional representation of Kosovo in meetings, Tahiri said that the problem was that Serbia was "not ready to accept the reality that Kosovo should be an equal participant in regional forums".