The Spanish Government had to carry out diplomatic maneuvers yesterday in Granada to reconcile its status as host of a summit whose main objective was to define the terms for the next enlargement of the European Union towards the east, with the fact that one of the potential candidates, whose president, Vjosa Osmani, attended the meeting, was Kosovo, a country that Spain does not recognize.
There was no handshake between Pedro Sánchez and Osmani nor was any bilateral meeting planned on the agenda. However, Spanish diplomacy chose pragmatism at the meeting of European leaders. The choice was made, as has been the case since 2020, for the absence of national flags and for identifying the leaders present only by their name, without specifying whether they were heads of State or Government of a specific country.
Spain is one of the five EU countries, along with Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia, that have not recognized the former province of Serbia, with an Albanian majority, whose unilateral independence in 2008 is difficult to digest considering the Spanish internal context.
Despite the broad recognition as a sovereign country by the international community and the fact that its independence has been endorsed by international justice as a unique case, Spain is the EU country that is furthest from recognizing Pristina. A diplomatic source acknowledged to this newspaper in 2020 that the Kosovo issue was “a thorn in the side” of Spanish foreign policy.
Although entry to the European club still seems distant for the troubled territory - specifically due to tensions with another of the candidates to enter the EU, Serbia -, the European Parliament approved this year to exempt its citizens from the need to a visa to enter the Schengen zone. Starting in 2024, this will allow Kosovars to move freely for a maximum of 90 days through this economic space of which Spain, Greece and Slovakia are part.
The paradox arises that, despite the fact that the Spanish Government assures that it will apply the new European regulations, it remains the only country in the Schengen zone that does not recognize passports issued by Kosovo, something that Greece and Slovakia already do.
Although the Spanish position has softened regarding the 2018 summit between the EU and the Balkans, when Mariano Rajoy was absent due to the presence of Kosovo, the Spanish executive remains firm in its "traditional" policy of opposition to its recognition.
At a time when tension between Kosovo and Serbia has skyrocketed, President Osmani wanted to address the Spanish Government directly upon her arrival at the summit. “I hope that Spain joins other like-minded European countries in taking action against Serbia,” Osmani said of last Sunday's attack in which a Kosovo police officer and three assailants were killed. “I hope you understand that supporting an aggressor of whom there is clear evidence since September 24 is not going to contribute to peace and stability,” she added.
