Why Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky Has a Kosovo Blind Spot

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s first official visit to Serbia at the weekend prompted understandable debate and reaction about Kyiv’s relations with Belgrade. Serbia nominally supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and Serbian-origin ammunition has reached Ukrainian forces through third countries. Yet Belgrade has not joined the European Union’s sanctions regime against Russia and continues to maintain close political and economic ties with Moscow. Serbia's domestic political and public environment also remains overwhelmingly receptive to Russia-sympathetic narratives. Ukraine has practical reasons to engage with Serbia. But should this come at the cost of Kyiv politically distancing itself from Kosovo, its continued policy of not recognising Kosovo’s independence, and staying silent about Serbia’s efforts to undermine Kosovo’s security and international agency? Kosovo has supported Ukraine consistently since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. It adopted sanctions against Russia, aligned itself with the Western response to Russian aggression, including recognising Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and right to self-defence. Subscribe to Balkan Insight Premium to read the full article. Please login to your account below if you are already a Premium Subscriber. Buy Premium Subscription Our Premium Service gives you full access to all content published on BalkanInsight.com, including analyses, investigations, comments, interviews and more. Choose your subscription today and get unparalleled in-depth coverage of the Southern and Eastern Europe. Buy Premium Subscription If you have trouble logging in or any other questions regarding you account, please contact us