ZAGREB — Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary recognized Kosovo’s independence on Wednesday in a new blow to Serbia’s efforts to resist the province’s breakaway. Serbia immediately warned its three neighbors that their relations with Belgrade would suffer for joining the growing list of nations giving diplomatic support to Kosovo.
Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary announced their move in a joint statement. “The decision on the recognition of Kosovo is based on thorough consideration,” the three countries said.
Thirty-two countries including the latest three have now recognized Kosovo’s independence, which the Serbian province’s ethnic Albanian-dominated parliament unilaterally declared on February 17.
The latest recognitions come two days after the worst violence in Kosovo since its proclamation, which is bitterly opposed by the Belgrade government and Kosovo Serbs, who are outnumbered by ethnic Albanians by more than nine to one.
A UN policeman was killed and more than 150 people wounded in the flashpoint northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday in clashes between international security forces and anti-independence Serbs. Budapest formalized its recognition after a cabinet meeting, with Zagreb due to make an official announcement later on Wednesday, and Sofia on Thursday.
“Hungary has recognized an independent Kosovo, and the government has asked the foreign ministry to prepare the necessary documents so the president may establish diplomatic contacts with the new independent state,” said Hungary’s state secretary for foreign affairs Marta Fekszi.
Speaking to journalists in Budapest, she also called on Belgrade to ensure the safety of 350,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Vojvodina, an autonomous province in northern Serbia.
“We’re afraid that Serb nationalists will target Hungarian minorities in Vojvodina after Budapest recognizes Kosovo on Wednesday,” Istvan Pasztor, president of the main Hungarian association in Vojvodina, warned Tuesday.
Serbia’s neighbors want to ensure stability in the Balkans and give Serbia and other countries, including Croatia, hope for their future integration in the European Union, which Bulgaria and Hungary have already joined.
But Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic reacted frostily.
“Every country that makes this move cannot count on good relations with us,” Jeremic said on a trip to Athens. “Every country that recognizes the illegal state of Kosovo violates international law.”
Kosovo, which Serbs consider a cradle of their civilization, has been under UN administration since 1999 when NATO intervened to stop Belgrade’s crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
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