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Sudan recognized Kosovo, REL: Why was the validity of this recognition contested?

Politiko 2025-04-20 14:04:25

Sudan recognized Kosovo, REL: Why was the validity of this recognition

On April 12, Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani announced that Sudan had become the 119th country to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Just 24 hours later, Serbia’s Foreign Ministry questioned the legitimacy of the “current government” in Sudan to make such decisions. In the past two years, Sudan has been facing what the United Nations (UN) calls the world’s largest famine crisis. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over 13 million have been forced from their homes.

All this has been caused by a power struggle between the military chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who now leads the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). President Osmani secured recognition of independence during a meeting with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Yousif Ahmed Al Sharif, who is part of the government led by Al-Burhan. Since then, their opponents, the RSF led by Dagalo, have announced that they are forming their own government for Sudan, with which they will govern the regions they control.

Dagalo - who is under US sanctions over allegations that his forces committed genocide in Sudan's Darfur region - said on April 16 that he and his allies were creating "a 15-member presidential council" representing all regions of Sudan. The decision was not welcomed by the UN, which immediately responded that the priority should be to preserve Sudan's unity and sovereignty and that creating a parallel government would not help resolve the problem.

The RSF's attempt to create a parallel government has also been opposed by many countries, including the US. Serbia has alluded to this political situation in Sudan when it questioned the legitimacy of recognizing Kosovo's independence. However, even after the start of the war on April 15, 2023 in Sudan, the cabinet of Sudan's "de facto" leader, Al-Burhan, has continued to play its usual role. The Foreign Minister himself, Al Sharif, who confirmed the recognition of independence by Sudan in the meeting with Osmani, has also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this year.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the meeting discussed “ways to strengthen cooperation between Russia and Sudan in various fields.” Since Kosovo’s declaration of independence on February 17, 2008, Serbia has consistently opposed third-party recognition of Kosovo’s independence, citing compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. Serbia argues that this Resolution provides for Kosovo’s status to be resolved through negotiations with Serbia and for temporary self-government under the supervision of the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK.

But in 2010, the International Court of Justice ruled that Kosovo's independence did not violate international law. Kosovo responded to these Serbian reactions by calling on the European Union and international partners to address Serbia's statements, which the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora (MFA) considers a violation of the Brussels Agreement. The MFA is based on two articles of the Brussels Agreement, which obliged Kosovo and Serbia to "develop normal, good-neighborly relations with each other on the basis of equal rights" and which stipulated that Serbia "shall not block nor encourage others to block Kosovo's membership in international organizations."

"Serbia's attempt to discredit Sudan's sovereign decision is not only a violation of its commitments within the framework of the dialogue, but also an insult to Sudan's sovereignty and the fundamental principles of international law," the MFA statement, published on April 15, said.

Similar reactions and counter-reactions were also caused after the recognition of independence by Kenya at the end of March this year. Serbia was called to Resolution 1244, while Kosovo responded that it was violating the Brussels Agreement. Expert Gëzim Visoka, professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Dublin in Ireland, said that he hopes that the recognition by Kenya will be a “turning point” in Kosovo’s diplomacy, as the previous recognition was that of Israel in 2021.

"Recognition by Kenya represents a good opportunity for the Government of Kosovo, but also for other engaged actors, to regain momentum and work sustainably and strategically to conclude the process of international recognition of Kosovo," Visoka told REL./ REL