Israel and Kosovo will establish diplomatic relations with each other, while Serbia will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Both moves came during US-backed talks in Washington, Russia Today reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s press office announced his country’s recognition of Kosovo on Friday, making Israel the 98th UN member state to recognize the former Serbian province. Kosovo, in turn, will recognize Israel, becoming one of only a handful of Muslim-majority countries to do so.
According to Jerusalem Post, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Kosovo will be the first Muslim-majority country to open an embassy in Jerusalem. As I said during the last days, the circle of peace and recognition of Israel is expanding with more countries expected to join”.
Trump called Netanyahu, during a meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, to congratulate both leaders on the decision to establish diplomatic relations.
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci later tweeted, “I welcome the announcement of Israeli PM @netanyahu about the genuine intention to recognize #Kosovo and establish diplomatic relations. Kosovo will keep its promise to place its diplomatic mission in #Jerusalem,” Thaci wrote.
With regard to Serbia, Netanyahu said: “I thank my friend the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer to his country’s embassy. I would like to thank my friend, President Trump, for his contribution to this achievement. We will continue efforts so that additional European countries will transfer their embassies to Jerusalem,” Jerusalem Post reports.
The move was announced as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti met with US President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss normalizing their economic relations, two decades after a devastating conflict between them ended with a NATO bombing campaign against Serbia.
