Grubjesic on Pristina's NATO membership bid: Idea incited from outside, Serbia to stick firmly to its stance

Photo: Tanjug/Tanja Valic

Pristina's request for NATO membership has been encouraged from outside, and Serbia cannot do much about that issue except to firmly adhere to its position, Suzana Grubjesic from the Center for Foreign Policy said today.

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She told RTS that, although according to the current procedure, it would not be possible for Pristina to be accepted into the alliance, the current situation is changing the world and we should not be surprised if that happens.

"If the rules and procedures that NATO has were to be followed, Kosovo's accession to the alliance would not be possible, because it is not recognized as a state. Even four NATO members have recognized Kosovo. Those countries are under great pressure, but Serbia is under the greatest pressure to recognize Kosovo," said Grubjesic.

However, she stressed, it is much more likely that Pristina will be admitted to NATO than to the UN, because there is no one in NATO who would veto that as Russia and China can in the UN, and the influence of the US in NATO is very strong.

"Pristina's request was incited from the outside, which can be seen thanks to Kosovo lobbyists in the US Congress, and that should not surprise us. We cannot do much but stick to our position and talk to representatives of those four countries. We should not forget that without an agreement with Belgrade, Pristina has no international certainty," Grubjesic believes.

She recalled that the 1949 Washington Charter that established NATO does not specify the that a candidate country must be a UN member, but in international law it is understood that the term "state" refers only to those with a seat in the UN.

Photo: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundzic

"Unfortunately, all those strict procedures can be relaxed in such a crisis. We can already see that on the example of Ukraine, which applied for EU membership. I cannot claim that this will happen, but a new geopolitical reality is being created, that is for sure. Geo-economically, there is an energy 'divorce' after 60 years of 'marriage' between Europe and Russia, and these are all circumstances that some actors can use for their own goals," said Grubjesic and added that for the first time in history Brussels is arming a non-member state by giving Ukraine 450 million euros for weapons.

She pointed out that it is difficult to say how the crisis in Ukraine will be resolved, but added that this will require an agreement between great powers.

"First of all, I expect Russia and the United States to agree on Ukraine, and that is the only way to eliminate the nuclear threat that is disastrous for the whole world," Grubjesic concluded.

(Telegraf.rs)