On October 27, M.P. Oleksii Honcharenko was the first Ukrainian parliamentarian to speak in the Assembly (parliament) of the partially recognised Kosovo. He called on Ukraine to recognise its independence.

It caused an ambiguous assessment of the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada. They stated that his trip to Kosovo was his private initiative. Honcharenko was not authorized to represent the Ukrainian parliament in recognising Kosovo's independence.

EuroPravda invited Oleksii Honcharenko to present his reasons why Ukraine should recognise the independence of Kosovo. We are ready to continue the discussion and publish reasons against this decision.

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Because of the war, Ukraine has really become the center of the free world. Thousands of covers of leading media are dedicated to Ukraine.

The U.S. President meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president can safely convene an urgent G7 meeting. Ukraine has never received such weight, such influence, such attention.

Meanwhile, this attention made our problems on the international stage crystal clear. Namely, lack of strategy.

What global values ​​do we stand for? Who are our allies? Can we ignore those who sincerely wish us victory?

The last question is about Kosovo. It is a small state in the Balkans, which independence Kyiv has yet to recognise.

Kosovo and the myths around it

For Ukraine, the Kosovo issue is not specifically about Kosovo, legal arguments, and precedents.

This is about what the international doctrine of Ukraine is. And in the situation with Kosovo, as in any other similar situation, Ukraine has long picked a "beneficial" option for itself. With choosing such a path, you always lose.

Kosovo is surrounded by various reasons that have influenced Ukraine's politics.

The first reason: the recognition of Kosovo will lead to a precedent for supporting the occupation of Crimea.

It is not true. The example of Kosovo is in no way related to Crimea.

Nobody annexed Kosovo, and nobody appropriated it. Even the U.N. International Court of Justice proved it.

Most countries of the world have recognized Kosovo. After all, Kosovo will one day join the E.U.

The second reason: Serbia will turn into our enemy if we recognise Kosovo.

Serbia is a close ally of Russia. Serbia's vote in the U.N., numerous statements of its president and the ruling elite tend to be anti-Ukrainian.

Instead, Kosovo joined anti-Russian sanctions in 2014. Kosovo is backing Ukrainians now.

Kosovo is clearly Ukraine's ally.

The third reason: recognition of Kosovo will drive China away from us.

The border integrity policy is quite important for China because of Taiwan. At the same time, Russia is a strategic partner for China.

China does not support Ukraine, does not provide humanitarian aid, and does not condemn Russia's aggression against Ukraine. It does not try to pressure Russia to withdraw its troops and stop aggression.

If China benefits from it, it will recognise Russia's legal occupation of Ukrainian territories.

And it does not depend on Ukraine's position. We cannot in any way provoke or change China's opinion. Ukraine is not a strategic or important trading partner of China.

So what stops Ukraine from recognising Kosovo?

On June 22, 2010, the U.N. International Court of Justice recognised that Kosovo's declaration of independence did not violate international law.

In fact, you can put an end to this and recognise the independence of Kosovo.

Today, 100 countries recognise the independence of Kosovo. If you look at the world map, it very much coincides with the countries that support us now. These are precisely the countries that impose sanctions, accept our refugees, and provide us with weaponry.

Kosovo is not the only problem

First, I would like to quote Volodymyr Zelenskyy: "Germans and Ukrainians are connected by common European values ​​- freedom and democracy. We stand firmly side by side."

Both the president and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine have repeatedly made such statements since the full-scale invasion. It's really true. The people of Ukraine are fighting and standing for European values.

The problem is that sometimes we only need European values ​​when they apply to us. When we need monetary or humanitarian aid. When we need military assistance. When we need to impose sanctions. When it is important to obtain E.U. candidacy.

Then these values ​​are quite convenient.

But, for example, when it is necessary to vote on the situation in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where the Chinese authorities are carrying out real genocide of the Uygurs, and we know about it, we abstain.

And Kyiv made this decision after February 24. When we say everywhere that we are fighting for freedom and human rights. When we ask the world to recognise what Russia is doing in the occupied territories as genocide.

This is not the only example of our "double" standards.

When Iran started supplying drones to Russia, we demanded that Israel give us weapons and attack Iran. And on October 30, 2022, Ukraine suddenly voted for a U.N. resolution calling on Israel to give up its nuclear weapons. At the same time, our allies, the USA and Canada, voted against it.

Since 2015, Ukraine has supported 95 anti-Israel resolutions at the U.N. and not a single pro-Israel one.

Why did the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry not support the protests of people in Iran against the current regime?

They are killing protesters there, throwing them in prisons, and carrying out mass repressions.

Another example is Belarus.

Since 2020, after the illegal seizure of power by Lukashenko, the opposition has been calling for cutting ties with Belarus, cancelling trade with it, and declaring an economic blockade.

Instead, Ukraine began to purchase bitumen in huge quantities at state expense, enabling the Lukashenko regime to stay in power. Why? Because it is "cheaper." That's why.

On October 10, Dmytro Kuleba called on African countries to abandon "neutrality" and condemn the aggression of the Russian Federation. Why should African countries act differently than we do? What is the difference?

So, as you can see, Kosovo is just one of many cases when Ukraine cannot or does not want to implement a foreign policy based on the values ​​we publicly declare.

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If Ukraine declares that European values ​​are fundamental, we must stand for them. Sacrifice for them. Fight for them.

It is pragmatic to build relations with countries that will definitely be by our side.

We know these countries. These are the E.U. and NATO members or their allies. These countries support Ukraine just now, as they supported other countries when they were in trouble.

Kosovo is among them. But Ukraine still prefers not to pay attention.

Time to correct this mistake.

Being the leader of the free world isn't just about Time covers. Being a leader of the free world is about responsibility and attitude.

It is still difficult for Ukraine to realise its role. It is difficult to speak out against China or Iran. It is difficult to pick a side. It is difficult to call genocide a genocide and murder a murder. It is difficult to lose cheap oil from Belarus.

It's all difficult but we have to go through this path. We can start with the recognition of Kosovo's independence.

Publications in the "Expert opinion" section are not editorial articles and reflect exclusively the author's point of view.