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Today's summit proved that Albania and Kosovo did not fall into this trap and isolated Serbia as the only pro-Russian country in the region. And this is what helps for more attention to Kosovo and respect for Albania in the West.
The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, deserves an applause today for the way she overcame the Russian diversion that is being done to use Kosovo against Ukraine in the Balkans. This diversion always has the same supposedly "patriotic" question that Albanians or pro-Serbs ask, whenever Albania or Kosovo supports Ukraine.
The insidious question is why we protect a country that does not recognize Kosovo.
Vjosa Osmani answered wisely saying that the recognition of Kosovo will come together with the victory of Ukraine. And this is the essence of everything that happens in Ukraine, since the problem of Ukraine was born as a problem of a country that was moving towards the West, breaking away from Russian influence.
It is true that pro-Russian Ukraine has not recognized Kosovo.
It has even been worse. In the midst of the bombings in April 1999, the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, was at that time the initiator of a meeting to stop the bombings. And it was logical. It is about pro-Russian Ukraine.
Pro-Western Ukraine is at war with Russia, in a two-year-long war with no end in sight. If Ukraine and the West lose this war, they will lose many chances for the freedom of peoples in Europe as well. Of course, I will also lose the chance for Ukraine to recognize Kosovo, which will no longer exist.
But this "patriotic" logic that with Ukraine's pro-Russian acts, they want to judge pro-western Ukraine, is pure pro-Russian propaganda, except for those who do not understand what they are saying, they are simply patriots on Facebook.
I mean they demand accountability from Zelenski's Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, why when his country was pro-Russian, it did not recognize Kosovo, and as punishment now that country must be left at the mercy of Russia. There is nothing more pro-Russian than this thesis. Of course, more anti-Kosovo.
The Ukraine crisis has brought the Kosovo problem out of the water and turned it into a Western concern precisely because of the Russian threat.
The "Ukraine - Southeastern Europe" summit, co-chaired by Prime Minister Edi Rama and President Zelensky, is an opportunity to give the world a clear picture of the positions of Southeastern Europe in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, and the problems faced by pro-Russian influences in the Balkans.
Two things become very clear regarding the Russian threat in the Balkans. The first is that Serbia is not a free state that can make decisions that affect Russia and its influence in the Balkans, and is not ready to break away from Russian influence.
Serbia's inability to separate from Russia and its reluctance to even speak out about the sanctions against Russia show that we have a Russian problem in the heart of the Balkans.
The second thing that became clear is that Kosovo can take advantage of the Ukraine crisis to further strengthen its partnership with the West, as it remains the country most exposed to conflict due to the climate of war that Russia is creating in Europe.
Aleksandër Vucic's attempts to use the precedent of Kosovo as a justification for the Russian aggression in Ukraine actually do more to honor Kosovo and increase the attention of the West towards it, than they harm it.
Therefore, all those who ask Albania why you protect Ukraine and others who judge as a patriot, why we support a country that does not recognize Kosovo, are asking the same questions that Putin asks against the West, when he says, why did you liberate Kosovo and I can't liberate Crimea, and why do you know Kosovo and you don't recognize the occupation of Crimea by me.
The difference is that the West, in the case of Kosovo, has liberated a captive country, while Putin, in the case of Ukraine, has conquered a free country.
Russian-occupied Ukraine cannot be abandoned in the name of what it did as a pro-Russian state decades ago. She is being punished for fleeing Russian custody. Therefore, all those who want to curb Albania's support for it, or even worse, use its non-recognition of Kosovo, are simply repeating what Putin says, trying to expand support for Russia in the Balkans.
Today's summit proved that Albania and Kosovo did not fall into this trap and isolated Serbia as the only pro-Russian country in the region. And this is what helps for more attention to Kosovo and respect for Albania in the West.
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