Karabakh raises Kosovo's privilege, lauds Putin's reference

PanARMENIAN.Net - Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) State Minister Artak Beglaryan has raised the question of why Kosovo can take advantage of the international mechanism of salvation and redress, while Artsakh can't.

Beglaryan noted on his Telegram channel that it was nice to hear Russian President Vladimir Putin speak to UN Secretary General António Guterres about the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo, which concluded that “the declaration of independence of Kosovo adopted on 17 February 2008 did not violate international law”.

Noting that Kosovo had declared independence in 2008 without consulting Serbia, Putin asked Guterres whether he agreed that provided a precedent for the two Donbas "republics" to declare independence without permission from Kyiv, and for Moscow to recognize them (as many western countries recognized Kosovo). However, Russia’s ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Bocan Harchenko, said later that Russia has not changed its attitude towards Kosovo and will not recognize it as an independent state.

According to Beglaryan, Putin's reference to Kosovo was a precedent for peoples who live under the threat of destruction and fight for their right to self-determination, such as the indigenous people of Artsakh.

“And here's a rhetorical question: why should Kosovo or other internationally unrecognized countries use this international mechanism of salvation and redress, while Artsakh, which meets all the norms of international law, does not? We should not forget the numerous cases when the international community did not fulfill its preventive duties, as a result of which a number of nations were subjected to genocide,” the State Minister said.