Slovakia drops opposition to Kosovo independence

Slovakia has dropped its opposition to Kosovo’s independence, bringing its position into line with other EU member states.

Slovak diplomats have told their counterparts in Brussels that they will work and vote together with the EU at the United Nations Security Council to agree a resolution that gives Kosovo supervised independence from Serbia.

In February, Slovak Foreign Minister Ján Kubiš warned against a solution that imposed Kosovo’s independence on Serbia. He told European Voice that talks between Serbian and Albanian leaders on the province’s future must be "given as much time as is needed".

Slovakia was the last member state having major difficulties with the plan to grant Kosovo supervised independence. Austria, Greece, Spain, Romania, Italy and Cyprus, which also raised objections, had already signalled they would back the proposal.

One source familiar with the Balkans said that EU policy planners had "done a good job of making anti-independence the same as opposing the EU’s mission".

The EU expects to oversee policing and political decision-making in Kosovo 120 days after a UN resolution passes.

Earlier this month the US, France, the UK and Germany distributed a draft resolution among Security Council members that endorsed UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s proposals to grant Kosovo independence supervised by the EU.

But opposition from Russia, which continues to insist that any solution needs Serbia’s agreement, could mean that a proposed deadline for agreement at the end of the month is missed.

Slovakia has dropped its opposition to Kosovo’s independence, bringing its position into line with other EU member states.