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Ghana has announced it will no longer recognize Kosovo as an independent state, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a letter addressed to its counterpart in Serbia.
Kosovo in February 2008 unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia and has been recognized, as Pristina.
“The Government of Ghana has decided to withdraw Ghana’s recognition of Kosovo as an independent state,” the letter said.
According to the West African country, it made a premature decision to recognize the Southeastern European country back in 2012 contrary to international laws.
“The decision of the Government of Ghana at the time must have, however, been inspired by the quest for peace and harmony,” the letter to Serbia sighted by Dailymailgh.com pointed out.
The Ministry said the recognition contravenes the Helsinki Final Act and more fundamentally, in contravention of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
“The decision to recognise Kosovo turned out to be premature in view of paragraph 10 of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) which authorised the Secretary-General to “establish an international civil presence in Kosovo in order to provide an interim administration for Kosovo under which the people of Kosovo can enjoy substantial autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and which will provide transitional administration while establishing and overseeing the development of provisional democratic self-governing institutions to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life of all inhabitants of Kosovo,” it said.
It added: “The Government of Ghana has taken into account the ongoing dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo aimed at resolving the issue of the latter’s quest to be recognized as an independent and sovereign entity and supports the ongoing process to bring finality to the matter.”
Ghana now joins the likes of Burundi, the Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominica, Guinea-Bissau, Grenada, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, Suriname and Togo as countries that do not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign state.
Ghana and Serbia share good relations over the decades with the first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic paying a visit to the African side May 2019. Ghana’s foreign minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey had made a similar call the year before.
Serbia contributes to the socie-economic development of Ghana through the areas of education, health, CT and construction.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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