Greece's reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence

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Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia was enacted on Sunday, 17 February 2008 by a unanimous vote of the Assembly of Kosovo.^[1] All 11 representatives of the Serb minority boycotted the proceedings.^[2] International reaction was mixed, and the global community continues to be divided on the issue of the international recognition of Kosovo. Greece's reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence in general is neutral.

Reaction[]

The day after the declaration, Greece stated that it would make a decision whether to recognise independent Kosovo or not after examining the issue in depth and that its decision would come as a result of close cooperation with European and neighbouring countries, bearing in mind Serbia's role in maintaining regional stability.^[3]

On 29 August 2008, following the South Ossetia war, an MFA spokesman replied in passing during a press briefing that Greece did not recognise Kosovo and will not recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia because "the basic principle of respect for the territorial integrity and independence of states" is of "long-standing importance to, and is a fundamental constant of, the Greek foreign policy of all Greek governments".^[4] Subsequent official statements issued by the Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis in August and September 2008 about Greece's engagement in EULEX said that Greece has interest in the betterment of the living conditions in Kosovo, especially that of minorities.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2009, a spokesman from the Greek embassy in Belgrade said that Greece has no plans to alter its stance on Kosovo despite the adoption of EP resolution calling on EU states that have not recognised Kosovo to do so. He also added that all Greek MEPs who attended the debate in Strasbourg "voted against the resolution".^[5]

In May 2009, Greece backed Kosovo's IMF bid and voted in favour of it becoming the IMF's latest member.^[6]

On 2 July 2009, President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias, stated "When it comes to Kosovo, the Greek position is well known. Our country has always been in favour of a mutually acceptable solution which would be based on international law, which would respect minority rights and would produce neither winners nor losers".^[7]

In September 2009, new Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou commented on the issue of Kosovo's independence by saying that "its unilateral recognition is a flagrant violation of international law" and added that "Greece's insistence on international law is a profoundly patriotic stance".^[8] In a June 2008 letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, he had stated that "unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo and its recognition by some EU member-states in violation of the principles of International Law and UN Security Council's resolutions and without a previous decision by the EU's 27 member-states, does not contribute to the region's stability".^[9]

In September 2011, it was reported that Greece supported Kosovo's membership in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.^[10]

In a March 2012 interview for Gazeta Express the head of the Greek Liaison Office in Pristina, Dimitris Moschopoulos, said that the recognition by Greece will arrive step by step and is something that will come naturally. He said that Greece wants all of the Western Balkans to become part of the EU, and therefore this perspective involves recognition.^[11]

During a September 2012 address to the National Assembly of Serbia, Greek Ambassador to Serbia Dimosthenis Stoidis said that his country would not recognize Kosovo in spite of the fact that the Greek government-debt crisis had been "used in order to pressure Athens to recognize the authorities in Priština".^[12]

In December 2012, Moschopoulos said that Greece doesn't recognise Kosovo, but supports its European integration, and voted in favor of Kosovo as a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.^[13]

There were reports in 2015 that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would visit Serbia to discuss recognising Kosovo as a condition of Greece's financial bailout, yet two Belgrade newspapers wrote it would not happen and reported "it would take a miracle for Greece not to recognize Kosovo".^[14] Dusan Janjic, a political analyst, said "Tsipras will play pragmatically. He will recognize Kosovo in order to delay the issue of Northen Macedonia's name. Due to the bad situation he won't be able to conduct his own policy. He will have to make concessions, and in this case it will be recognizing Kosovo." Janjic also said that recognizing Kosovo "would be useful for establishing ties between Greece and Albania and Albanians in the region."

References[]