By Ted Belman
Illustrative: A Kosovo police officer walks across a red carpet prior to a ceremony held digitally, in the capital Pristina, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. Kosovo and Israel formally have established diplomatic ties in a ceremony held digitally due to the pandemic lockdown. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora announces that the Kosovo Embassy in the State of Israel, with headquarters in Jerusalem, officially has been opened,” That big news.
It becomes first European and first Muslim-majority nation to establish embassy in the Israeli capital, following US and Guatemala.
Kosovo as an independent state is not fully recognized by all the other states. 95% of its 1.8 million population is Albanian. 97% are Sunni Muslim.
A statement said the move was made after the establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel on February 1 and a Kosovo-Serbia summit held at the White House in September.
Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed, as the capital of a future state. Most of the international community doesn’t recognize the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and says the competing claims to the city should be resolved through negotiations. Most international embassies are in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti had met with Serb President Aleksandar Vucic at the White House in September with then-US president Donald Trump. It was then decided.
“Setting of the plaques and the state flag at the Kosovo Embassy in Israel reflects the Government of Kosovo’s commitment to comply with the pledge for establishing the diplomatic mission to Jerusalem,” it said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Kosovo that the move could damage future relations with his country.
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