Kosova: Serbia Continues Efforts to Bar UNESCO Membership
This week, Serbia’s UNESCO Ambassador Darko Tanaskovic has officially announced his opposition to Kosova’s admission to UNESCO. This step is but one more in the Serbian government’s sustained effort to prevent Kosova from gaining the international recognition it deserves, whether in the EU, the UN or any of its bodies.
Read the full article, published by In Serbia, below:
BELGRADE – Serbia’s UNESCO Ambassador Darko Tanaskovic believes that a diplomatic battle to persuade the member states of this organization that possible admission of Kosovo is unacceptable and multiply harmful is still imminent.
Kosovo’s UNESCO admission is unacceptable for Serbia out of legal, political, cultural and moral reasons, Tanaskovic told Belgrade weekly Nedeljnik.
“Since Pristina will not give up on its intention, and bearing in mind that politics usually decide when such things happen, and not the law, a diplomatic battle of persuading UNESCO member states that possible admission of Kosovo is unacceptable and multiply harmful is still imminent,” he said.
Serbia, as Tanaskovic put it, has strong arguments in this battle, and, besides the political ones, perhaps the strongest argument is that Kosovo is unable to meet the obligations pertaining to UNESCO membership, primarily in terms of how they treat Serbia’s cultural heritage in the province.
All institutions of Serbia have taken part in preventing Kosovo from becoming a UNESCO member, and it is important that this effort made by the state and the nation as a whole is well prepared, coordinated and persistent, and that all steps are taken systemically.
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