On 9 August, a large Ukrainian flag and a \u00abFree Ukraine\u00bb banner, which had been hanging on a building in the centre of Pristina for around four years, were taken down. Mayor Perparim Rama linked the decision to Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s statement in Belgrade regarding Kyiv\u2019s unchanged position on not recognising Kosovo\u2019s independence. Rama stated that support for Ukrainians suffering from the war remains unchanged.<\/p>\n
Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n He himself posted footage of the dismantling on social media Perparim Rama<\/strong>. According to him, \u00abwhen Kosovo is not respected, the capital, Pristina, always responds in kind\u00bb. In other words, the mayor described mutual respect as a guiding principle of the city authorities.<\/p>\n Rama stated that policy should not be based on downplaying Kosovo\u2019s statehood and the suffering of its people. At the same time, he emphasised that Pristina would continue to show solidarity with people experiencing war, violence and persecution. Consequently, the removal was a political gesture by the city authorities, rather than a declaration of a withdrawal of solidarity with the Ukrainians.<\/p>\n On 8 August, the President of Ukraine visited Serbia and held talks with its President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong>. At a press conference Zelensky<\/strong> stated that Ukraine adheres to international law, respects Serbia\u2019s territorial integrity, and that its position on Kosovo\u2019s unilateral declaration of independence remains unchanged.<\/p>\n The President also thanked Belgrade for its support for Ukraine\u2019s territorial integrity, particularly with regard to Crimea. Kyiv does not officially recognise Kosovo\u2019s independence<\/strong>, declared in 2008. Serbia considers Kosovo to be part of its territory, whilst its independence has been recognised by the United States and a significant number of European states.<\/p>\n Following the start of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion, Kosovo joined the West in imposing sanctions against Moscow, provided humanitarian and medical aid to Ukraine, agreed to take in Ukrainian refugees, and implemented a programme for Ukrainian journalists. The Ukrainian flag in the city centre was one of the most visible symbols of this support.<\/p>\n Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania Ditmir Bushati<\/strong> stated that Zelenskyy could have shown more gratitude to his partners in South-Eastern Europe, particularly Kosovo. During the talks, Vu\u010di\u0107 reaffirmed his support for Ukraine\u2019s territorial integrity, including the territories seized by Russia after 2014. Kyiv and Belgrade also agreed to develop economic relations and work towards a free trade agreement.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Pristina, the Ukrainian flag and a \u2018Free Ukraine\u2019 banner were taken down after Kyiv reaffirmed its position that it does not recognise Kosovo\u2019s independence.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":26862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0423 \u041f\u0440\u0438\u0448\u0442\u0438\u043d\u0456 \u0434\u0435\u043c\u043e\u043d\u0442\u0443\u0432\u0430\u043b\u0438 \u043f\u0440\u0430\u043f\u043e\u0440 \u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0438 \u0442\u0430 \u0431\u0430\u043d\u0435\u0440 Free Ukraine \u043f\u0456\u0441\u043b\u044f \u043f\u0456\u0434\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0434\u0436\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u041a\u0438\u0454\u0432\u043e\u043c \u043f\u043e\u0437\u0438\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u043f\u0440\u043e \u043d\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0437\u043d\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u043d\u0435\u0437\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0436\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0456 \u041a\u043e\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0430.","rank_math_title":"\u041f\u0440\u0430\u043f\u043e\u0440 \u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0438 \u0437\u043d\u044f\u043b\u0438 \u0443 \u041f\u0440\u0438\u0448\u0442\u0438\u043d\u0456 \u0447\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437 \u043f\u043e\u0437\u0438\u0446\u0456\u044e \u0449\u043e\u0434\u043e \u041a\u043e\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0430","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u041f\u0440\u0438\u0448\u0442\u0438\u043d","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805619],"tags":[806756],"class_list":["post-26863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-806756"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26864,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26863\/revisions\/26864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
The mayor described the dismantling as a gesture of mutual respect<\/h2>\n
What Zelenskyy said during his visit to Serbia<\/h2>\n
Kosovo\u2019s support for Ukraine and reactions to the President\u2019s remarks<\/h2>\n