Serbian premier trades barbs in London with Kosovar counterpart

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – In London on Monday, the territorial dispute between Kosovo – a sovereign state since 2008 – and Serbia – which calls Kosovo its own territory – broke out into full view.

The dispute began at a panel organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), when Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said Kosovo is an internal part of Serbia, calling it by its pre-2008 name, "Kosovo and Metohija."

But Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti shot back: "The name of my country is the Republic of Kosovo, not Kosovo and Metohija.”

He added that Kosovo is recognized as an independent country by three of its four neighboring countries and 117 countries around the world, including 22 EU members and 26 NATO countries as well as Türkiye and the United States.

In response Brnabic claimed that "such a statement does not correspond to reality."

Before Kosovo’s independence, Kosovo and Metohija was an autonomous province in southernmost Serbia.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, with most UN member states including the US, the UK, France, Germany, and Türkiye recognizing it as an autonomous country.

Serbia, however, still considers Kosovo its territory.

The last two years have seen tensions and violence flare along the countries’ shared border, with Serbian troops last fall amassing at the frontier with Kosovo before pulling back.