Pristina tried to lobby for so-called Kosovo in UNESCO. Brnabic: Depoliticize this organization

Photo: Tanjug/Zoran Zestic

Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic arrived on Thursday for a two-day visit to Paris, where she will participate in the Paris Peace Forum and the 41st session of the General Conference of UNESCO.

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Serbia is in favor of depoliticizing UNESCO, she said, commenting on the controversy that arose during the debate of the General Conference of UNESCO regarding Pristina's membership in this organization.

Brnabic told the Serbian media in the French capital that this is "nothing surprising to us" and stressed that joining UNESCO is something that Pristina aspires to.

"We are in favor of a clear depoliticization of UNESCO. We have full support and understanding for the fact that the provisional institutions in Pristina cannot be a member of UNESCO, and, regardless of the lobbying from one side or other, I believe that we will be able to maintain our status and defend ourselves from those attacks," said Brnabic.

She assessed that accepting Pristina into this organization would be catastrophic.

"I think that would set a huge precedent and would lead to many other issues of global proportions that UNESCO doesn't need," Brnabic.

The prime minister stressed that on Friday, during her address at the UNESCO General Conference, she would reiterate that Serbia is clear about the need to depoliticize this organization.

"It is known which issues UNESCO deals with above all and on the agenda are things such as science, ethics in the field of artificial intelligence... For others who want to politicize these things, we have a clear response," said Brnabic.

Serbian Ambassador to UNESCO Tamara Rastovac Siamasvili said on Wednesday that it is not UNESCO's mandate to make political decisions concerning statehood.

During the debate at the 41st General Conference of this organization, she reacted in this way to the speech of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania Olta Xhacka, who spoke in favor of allowing so-called Kosovo to join UNESCO.

(Telegraf.rs)