Kosovo passports will still be valid in Zeta: Kosovo "recognized" only in the name of the declaration

The proposed declaration that the councilors of the "For the Future of Zeta" coalition (17 of them) and one independent submitted to the local assembly yesterday does not contain what is stated in its title, and what was announced by the head of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) Milan Knezevic - annulment and non-recognition of the Government's decision to recognize Kosovo, in the territory of Zeta.

The document (“Declaration on the Annulment and Non-Recognition of the Decision on the Recognition of the Unilaterally Proclaimed Independence of Kosovo and Metohija”), which contains six points and which Knežević published yesterday morning on (his) Facebook account with the message “it has begun”, does not contain any explicit wording about the “recognition” of Kosovo in Zeta. However, it states that the Zeta parliament “remains committed... to the inviolability of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, based on international law and the UN Security Council Resolution...”.

Point one of the proposal states that the Municipal Assembly (MA) of Zeta "notes with particular concern that the position of Montenegrins and Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is deteriorating daily under the temporary Pristina institutions."

The second states that the Zeta Municipal Assembly “regrets that all previous governments of Montenegro, since gaining independence (in 2006), have ignored the majority position of the citizens of Montenegro that Kosovo and Metohija are an integral part of the Republic of Serbia.

Point three states that the Zeta Municipal Assembly calls on the Prime Minister's Government Milojko Spajić (Europe Now Movement) to pursue a "balanced foreign policy" and not to vote for decisions in international institutions and organizations "that are directed against the interests of the majority Montenegro and the neighboring and brotherly state of Serbia."

"The Zeta Municipal Assembly, in solidarity with the suffering Montenegrin and Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, issues this declaration as a form of support and efforts to resolve the crisis caused by the unilateral declaration of independence peacefully; the Zeta Municipal Assembly remains committed to respecting the UN Charter, the inviolability of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia, based on international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1244," it is stated in points four and five of the proposal, while the sixth is of a technical nature (on the publication of the declaration in the Official Gazette).

After the former Democratic Front (DF), consisting of the DNP and the New Serbian Democracy, unsuccessfully tried to adopt a declaration on "recognition" of Kosovo in the Zeta parliament three years ago, Knežević announced last week that he would raise the issue - this time in other municipalities where the DNP is part of the government, but also at the state level. He also announced a "large rally" in Podgorica on May 10th, at which the topic would be discussed.

He announced that the declaration in Zeta would be made on the Day of Saint Basil of Ostrog - May 12th.

A legal expert with whom the editorial team recently spoke explained that the decision to "recognize" Kosovo at the local level can only be of a declarative nature, and cannot produce legal effect, because the decision to recognize that state was not made by local governments, but by the Government.

The former DF parliamentary group announced in early May 2023, a month before the parliamentary elections, that a “declaration on the annulment and invalidity of the decision” on the recognition of Kosovo in the territory of that municipality would be adopted at the session of the Zeta assembly. The declaration was announced four days after Montenegro supported the proposal for Kosovo to join the Council of Europe.

The Zeta County Parliament members were supposed to discuss the proposed declaration for the first time on June 11, 2023, on election night. Although the session was supposed to be held after the closing of the polling stations, the proposers did not come because they opposed holding the session on election night. A quorum was not secured for the session on June 30, with the same agenda item. The third and fourth sessions, scheduled for the same occasion, were not held because the initiators again failed to appear, and the last attempt was on August 1 of that year, but the former DF members again failed to appear at the session.

Montenegro recognized Kosovo on October 9, 2008.