Israel is taking a wait-and-see attitude toward Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia.
A statement from the foreign ministry Monday said that the Jewish state “was following the developments and will formulate its position later on.”
Kosovo was the southern region of Serbia where a war between the majority ethnic Albanians and Serb troops ended in stalemate in 1999, after which it was administered by the United Nations.
The ethnic Albanian government of Kosovo, backed by the United States and key European Union countries, is set to become Europe??s newest country.
Israel has strong historical ties to Serbia, which opposes Kosovo’s independence. In a December interview an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman told JTA that Israel would not be the first country to recognize Kosovo, but added it would not be the last.
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