A photo of EU Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Várhelyi and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić before the dialogue with Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has sparked discontent among Albanians.
The object of discontent is a book appearing in the photo, titled “The Christian Heritage of Kosovo and Metohija: The Historical and Spiritual Heartland of the Serbian People”.
Kosovo’s aim in the resumed EU-facilitated dialogue is to get Serbia’s recognition. The book perpetuates one of the main Serbian myths depicting Kosovo as the center of Serbian nationalism, culture and heritage, which in this case is seen as contrary to the spirit of dialogue.
The use of “Kosovo and Metohija” as Serbia’s name for Kosovo is a long time dispute between the two countries.
The book drew the reaction of Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Meliza Haradinaj, who called it a “diplomatic scandal”, “provocation”, and said the book content is “chauvinistic”.
“It is beyond a diplomatic scandal and more than a provocation and bias that Oliver Várhelyi meets Aleksandat Vučić intentionally exposing chauvinist books, a derivative of ethnic cleansing projections and territorial pretensions towards a sovereign & independent country.
These projections are dead – just as Milosevic’s genocidal regime. This should be clear in every discussion table and every representation: the Republic of Kosovo is one and inalienable. The independent Kosovo of 17 February 2018 is inviolable,” Haradinaj tweeted.
Kosovo and Serbia leaders held the first meeting in person in Brussels on Thursday, four days after the dialogue resumed via video conference.
