Some Major Players Tried to Tilt Balance in Favor of Kosovo in UNESCO Vote

Several major states had been persuading smaller countries into voting in favor of Kosovo's accession to UNESCO, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told Sputnik Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, at the request of Kosovo, the vote on its admission to UNESCO had been conducted. However, it failed to gain the required majority of votes to join the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO).

"Some states sent their influential people to the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, they gathered representatives of several countries and exerted pressure on them," Aleksandar Vucic said.

He added that some of these countries changed their approach toward Kosovo membership at the last moment.

"For example, we spoke with a representative of Tajikistan some 40 minutes before the voting and he confirmed that he was going to vote against Kosovo membership. But then he did not attend the procedure, probably Turkey played its role there," the prime minister pointed out.

According to Vucic, several representatives of African and Asian states explicitly confirmed that they came under pressure over the voting on Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by 108 UN member states. Belgrade considers Kosovo to be part of its territory.