Kosovo has officially opened its Embassy in Jerusalem, the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora (MFAD) announced on Sunday.
"Unable to be present in Jerusalem, representatives of the state of Kosovo, due to the pandemic situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Charge d'Affaires in Israel that in the record unveiled by the Minister (of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Gabriel) Ashkenazi ", together with the state flag, to place it in the building of the Embassy of Kosovo in Jerusalem", it is said in the announcement of the MFA.
The MFAD says that with the opening of its Embassy in Jerusalem, Kosovo has fulfilled its commitment given on February 1, when the two countries established diplomatic relations.
"The Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Jerusalem will be strongly committed to increase bilateral cooperation and strengthen the international subjectivity of the state of Kosovo," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.
In charge of Kosovo's work in Israel is Ines Demiri. She is expected to be Kosovo's ambassador to this country.
The opening of the Kosovo Embassy in Jerusalem was foreseen in the September 4 Agreement, when Kosovo and Serbia signed two documents in the White House for the normalization of economic relations, in the presence of the then US President, Donald Trump.
The document signed by Kosovo envisages mutual recognition with Israel, while in the case of Serbia, it envisages the relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something that has not yet happened.
The opening of the Kosovo Embassy in Jerusalem was opposed by the European Union. On February 2, the EU called the opening of this embassy in the city of Jerusalem, whose status the European bloc considers unresolved, an unfortunate decision.
The Turkish Embassy in Pristina and the Arab League had also expressed their opposition. The latter had called on Kosovo to abandon this decision and to adhere to international resolutions on Jerusalem.
In late 2017, then-US President Donald Trump announced his government’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
With this, the US decided to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The U.S. move sparked widespread international backlash, as most world powers do not recognize Israel's sovereignty over all of Jerusalem and say its final status should be decided through Middle East peace negotiations.