There can be little surprise that the shortcoming in the fulfilment of expectations by the Kosovo administration that there would be wider acceptance of the territory as independent has become a domestic political issue.

An opposition political party has criticised as incompetent the lobbying campaign by Pristina for recognition of the breakaway state.

Whatever the merits of the campaign, it is clear that even those countries that have endorsed the state continue, privately or not, to take a cautious view of it. Apart from those that have vowed not to recognise Kosovo, a number by no means limited just to Russia and Serbia, a number of other states have been in no rush to endorse Kosovo’s February 17 unilateral declaration of independence.

The challenges facing Kosovo are not limited to a failure to realise its dream of widespread recognition. It is clear that, at a time that its politicians might be expected to embark on nation-building, they are caught in squabbles over who should serve as its diplomats and who should occupy some of the choicer, more potentially prestigious and powerful, posts in government.

Equally, it is clear that without substantial outside help, Kosovo still cannot cope with the administrative challenges facing it, cannot stand on its own in resolving the international issues of which it finds itself standing at the centre, and certainly cannot be regarded as economically viable.

This last point emerges as starkly clear from the donors’ conference on July 11 that saw a healthy number of pledges of financial support, and the rapidity of the deal that will enable Kosovo to borrow from international financial institutions. But regarding these developments, it is clear that the caution even among Kosovo’s friends extends to how it will handle funds both donated and lent to it.

If it wishes to make its way in the world, Kosovo must devote substantial resources and energy to putting aside partisan political and all other considerations, and build good governance as quickly as possible. Unless this is seen to be done, and especially given all the other reasons that outsiders have reservations about Kosovo, the mood at the next donors’ conference may be somewhat less giving.