On Kosovo, Russia Draws a Line Between Sports and Politics

© East NewsMoscow believes that though Kosovo remains an integral part of Serbia, sports and politics should be separate in regard to the International Olympic Committee giving Kosovo the right to have its own Olympic team, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday.
Moscow believes that though Kosovo remains an integral part of Serbia, sports and politics should be separate in regard to the International Olympic Committee giving Kosovo the right to have its own Olympic team, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday. - Sputnik International
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The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman restated Moscow's stance on Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia. But sports should not be mixed with politics, Alexander Lukashevich said commenting on the International Olympic Committee's decision to let Kosovo have its own Olympic team.

The national Olympic Committee of Kosovo became a full-fledged member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Tuesday. - Sputnik International
International Olympic Committee Grants Membership to Kosovo
MOSCOW, December 11 (Sputnik) – Moscow believes that though Kosovo remains an integral part of Serbia, sports and politics should be separate in regard to the International Olympic Committee giving Kosovo the right to have its own Olympic team, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday.

“We believe that Kosovo is a part of Serbia and that status is defined in the according UN Security Council’s Resolution 1244. This resolution clearly stipulates that Serbia has sovereignty over Kosovo… Once again I would like to emphasize that in our deepest beliefs sports should be separate from politics,” Lukashevich said during a briefing in Moscow.

The European Union welcomes the formation of a new Kosovo government and hopes it will resume the partially recognized country’s path toward European integration, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and neighborhood policy commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a joint statement Tuesday. - Sputnik International
EU Welcomes New Kosovo Gov't, Hopes Back on Track Toward EU Integration
Kosovo, a landlocked region in the central Balkan Peninsula, declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008. Since then it has been recognized as a sovereign state by over 100 UN member states, including 23 out of 28 countries of the European Union. Kosovo is currently a member of a number international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund and the Regional Cooperation Council.

On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee voted unanimously in Monaco to grant Kosovo the right to create its own official Olympic teams. According to the IOC’s statement, the national Olympic Committee of Kosovo “met the requirements for recognition as outlined in the Olympic Charter.” All 96 members, including Russia, unanimously supported the decision. However, the President of the Serbian Olympic Committee did not take part in the vote.

Commenting on the situation, United World Wrestling President Nenad Lalovic said that “If Serbia had opposed the decision, it would have been a utopia and would not help the Serbian sport… Now it only remains for Serbia to cooperate with the Olympic Committee of Kosovo, because sport is not politics,” B92 quotes.

The IOC’s move creates an opportunity for South Ossetia’s Olympic membership, as the republic pledged to use Kosovo’s precedent and lodge a similar application. South Ossetia was recognized as an independent state by Russia in 2008 after Georgia had attacked the autonomous region. Four UN members have so far recognized the republic, and its political status is often compared to that of Kosovo.

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