St Mary’s Academic launches New Policy Report in Kosovo

Professor James Ker-Lindsay, Professor of Politics and Policy in the School of Arts and Humanities at St Mary’s University, Twickenham will launch a major new policy report examining Kosovo's relations with a number of European Union member states in Kosovo on 8^th December. 

The report, which has been funded by the Kosovo Foundation for an Open Society (KFOS), and is co-edited with Dr Ioannis Armakolas from ELIAMEP, one of Greece’s leading think tanks, builds upon Professor Ker-Lindsay’s work on the topic of ‘engagement without recognition’. It draws together contributions from leading Balkans experts from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia, Romania, Cyprus and Spain.

Speaking of the launch, Prof Ker-Lindsay said, “We tend to think of Kosovo’s external relations in terms of those countries that recognise it and those that don’t. This report shows that the picture is far more interesting and complicated than this. While some countries have recognised Kosovo and have good working relations with it, others have recognised it but have minimal political, economic and social engagement with Kosovo.

“Likewise, while some countries, such as Spain and Cyprus, do not recognise Kosovo and have very limited interaction with it, there are some countries that do not recognise Kosovo, but actually have quite good bilateral relations. We have explored the reasons for these differences and show how this could shape Kosovo foreign policy decision-making in future."

The launch of the report will take place 000in Pristina on Friday morning at an event that will be attended by members of the government, civil society and the diplomatic community. As well as the formal launch of the report, a number of other events will take place to publicise the report. These will include a panel discussion with Professor Ker-Lindsay on one of the country’s main political talk shows.