The Highest Constitutional Officials on Thursday rejected a proposal by
President Miloš Zeman to revoke recognition of Kosovo as an independent
state. He had promised during a visit to Serbia in early September to raise
the issue at the official's next meeting.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has been
recognised by 100 members of the United Nations. Among those refusing to
are Russia and China, with which Zeman has courted favour and tried to
deepen ties, often against the Czech government’s wishes.
Serbia and Kosovo signed an EU-brokered deal to mend ties in 2013, but
those efforts stalled when Belgrade blocked Pristina last year from joining
Interpol, triggering a tit-for-tat 100 percent tax on Serb imports. Since
then, Belgrade has stepped up efforts to get countries to withdraw their
recognition of Kosovo.
The Highest Constitutional Officials include the president, prime minister,
the heads of both houses of Parliament, and the ministers of Foreign
Affairs, Defence and the Interior. In a statement after the meeting,
Minister Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček (Social Democrats) stated that
all speakers had agreed that position of the Czech Republic regarding
Kosovo has not changed.