Pristina – Kosovo president Hashim Thaci said his Muslim-majority nation would have voted with the United States against a United Nations resolution condemning the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
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Thaci said in a recent interview with the Albanian newspaper Express that were Kosovo to achieve full United Nations membership it would vote with the United States “all the time” including on last month’s resolution on Jerusalem.
The U.N. General Assembly approved a non-binding resolution condemning the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Only 8 nations voted with the United States and another 53 abstained. The U.S. delegation to the United Nations on Wednesday threw a party for all 64 countries. Among those not voting for the resolution was Bosnia, which like Kosovo is Muslim majority.
Kosovars are overwhelmingly pro-American and also admire Jews. The Clinton administration led the NATO action in 1999 that pushed back Serbia’s repression of its Muslim majority, Albanian speaking province and the George W.Bush administration recognized Kosovo when it declared independence in 2008. Jewish Americans, citing the example of world inaction during the Hoiilocaust, helped spur the U.S.-led intervention in 1999.
So far, over 100 nations have recognized Kosovo as an independent nation. Those that do not — among them, Israel — fear the example that would be set by recognizing a state that declares independence unilaterally. The opposition of Russia and China have kept Kosovo from getting U.N. membership.