Bulgaria, together with Croatia and Hungary, has made a concerted move toward recognising the independence of Kosovo. In a joint declaration, released at noon on March 19, the governments of the three countries took serious steps to legitimise Kosovo’s February 17 self-proclaimed independence. However, the document did not commit to a deadline for when the de-facto recognition would take place.

When they do, they will become the first Balkan countries to recognise the newly born state. So far, 29 countries have said yes to Kosovo, including the US, the UK, Germany and France. Japan and Canada joined this list on March 19.

The Bulgarian Cabinet will discuss Kosovo’s status on March 20.

The decision to recognise Kosovo draws on “thorough consideration and on the conclusions adopted by the General Affairs and External Relations Council of the European Union on February 12 2007 and February 18 2008, as well as by the European Council on December 14 2007”.

Kosovo is a “case arising from the unique circumstances of the disintegration of former Yugoslavia as well as the continued period of international administration,” the declaration read.

Despite this, all three countries paid due tribute to the European future of Serbia and favour the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Serbia and the European Union.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said, as quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP), that countries that have recognised Kosovo “cannot rely on good relations with Serbia”.

Hours before the release of the joint statement, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Liubomir Kiuchoukov met Serbian ambassador to Bulgaria Danilo Vucetic to inform him about the decision. Emerging from the meeting, he said there was no reason to expect that Serbia would treat Bulgaria any differently from other states that had recognised Kosovo’s independence. Over the past month, Serbia has recalled its ambassadors, for an indefinite period, from all the countries that have recognised Kosovo.

Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov characterised the decision as “reasonable”, yet declined to comment further until the document had been approved by the Cabinet. He said, though, that the situation in Kosovo continued to be “alarming” and this had to be taken into account.

The political outcry in Bulgaria was immediate and, inevitably, the ruling coalition and the opposition took different positions. While the ruling coalition maintained the decision was timely, carefully considered and responsible, the opposition was united behind the feeling that the decision was late.

“Because of indecision, Bulgaria lost its chance to join the governing commission of states, which are to oversee and insist on the implementation of the Ahtisaari plan and therefore to stand for its economic and political interests,” said Konstantin Dimitrov, a member of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

Sofia mayor and leader of the party Citizens for European Development in Bulgaria (GERB) Boiko Borissov wondered why the Government needed so long to reach its decision “given that from day one everyone knew Bulgaria would recognise Kosovo”.
Hours after the declaration was released, Croatia’s deputy prime minister Slobodan Uzelac, a representative of the Serbian minority in the Croatian government, filed his resignation in protest against the plans of the Croatian government, Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader said, as quoted by AFP.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Yakovenko said that “Russia’s position on Serbia remained unchanged, the declaration of Kosovo’s independence violated international law”. The head of the defence and security committee in the upper chamber of the Russian parliament Viktor Ozerov would not rule out the prospect of Serbia joining the Commonwealth of Independent States and in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported.