Author: Dr. Gurakuç Kuçi – Senior Researcher at Institute for Hybrid Warfare Studies “OCTOPUS” and professor at Kolegji UNI
The deepening failure to defend Russia’s aggressive and unlawful actions against Ukraine, its neighbors, and beyond is pushing this geographically large state (Russia) to lose the narrative battle in Kosovo.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that borders cannot be changed by force, rejecting any such attempt in Ukraine.
Russia, which international relations and geopolitics scholars consider a power that weakens unless it continuously expands, risking becoming a third-rate power, something even Aleksandr Dugin has admitted, keeps insisting on using Kosovo as a “precedent” to justify its aggressive behavior.
Yet this large territory called Russia is losing ground to Kosovo because its narrative is fundamentally false.
From 1877 to 1999: How Serbia Expanded by Force and Why Zakharova’s Claim Is False
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in her reaction to von der Leyen, invoked the case of Kosovo, saying: “It was the West that declared and forcibly implemented the unilateral redrawing of Serbia’s borders, against the will of the Serbian people.”
A tragic embarrassment for a large country like Russia to be represented by officials who even attempt to deceive with lies that are easily disproven.
Kosovo was not taken from anyone by force!
Since 1877, when Kosovo covered 22,900 km², it was Serbia, supported by Russia, that expanded at the expense of Albanian territories, conquering lands, expelling populations, and committing genocide against Albanians. Today’s Kosovo still shelters many Albanians who fled or were expelled from the occupied regions: Niss, including Toplica, Prokuplje, Kurshumlija, Leskovc, Vranje; the Sangjak of Novi Pazar; and up to the area of Presheva, Medvegja, and Bujanovc.
There are hundreds of thousands of published proofs of how the region of today’s Kosovo was colonized by Serbia since 1918, and from Serbia’s archives there have been extracted names, surnames and addresses in Kosovo where the Serbian colonists were placed. This collection and publication of evidence was done by Millovan Obradovic.
In the 1990s, Kosovo experienced terrible terror from Serbia, after the abolition of autonomy, Albanians were denied employment, education, healthcare, while systematic violence, repression and imprisonments culminated with massacres and genocide during the years 1998–1999.
Kosovo would have suffered a total ethnic cleansing according to the “Horseshoe” operation and a tragedy even worse than Bosnia, if it had not been for NATO’s humanitarian intervention to stop the violence of Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal regime.
Just a few statistics: within two years, 1998–1999, more than 800,000 Albanians were deported from Kosovo; around 13,000–14,000 civilians were killed and massacred; more than 19,000 women and girls were raped; thousands of bodies were disappeared, and Serbia still does not reveal where it has hidden around 1,600 of them.
After the war, in the peacekeeping mission with NATO, there were also forces from Russia, through which it openly provoked renewed confrontation with the West.
Why the Russian argument about Kosovo fails legally, politically and strategically
Regardless of what Zakharova and Russia say, every person not influenced by propaganda admits publicly (since in their mind everyone knows the truth) that NATO did not commit aggression against Serbia. On the contrary, it stopped genocide and even saved Serbia itself from the claws of people like Milosevic. Meanwhile, it is Russia that is bringing Serbia back to the people of Milosevic, by sponsoring proxy states and politicians such as Alexander Vucic and Alexander Vulin.
Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that after Kosovo declared independence, it was Serbia, with the help of Russia, that requested the opinion of the International Court of Justice on whether Kosovo’s declaration of independence was in accordance with international law. The ICJ gave its judgment, and now the hypocrisy lies with Russia and Serbia, who do not accept the “answer” to their own question. The ICJ confirmed that Kosovo had not violated international law with its declaration of independence. Russia and Serbia asked for the Court’s opinion, but would they have accepted it if the ICJ had said that Kosovo had violated international law?
Zakharova attacks von der Leyen because she wants to gain as much as possible in the bargaining over peace in Ukraine by using Kosovo as a “precedent”. However, this is an artificial comparison and even a deception for the Serbian people, whose view has been further darkened by Russia and the Vucic regime.
By mentioning Kosovo as a precedent, Russia has its eye on the bargaining against Ukraine. However, it seems to be stuck in the trap of the narrative against Kosovo and is losing the battle with the truth.