Syria officially recognized the independence of the Republic of Kosovo on Wednesday following a trilateral meeting in Riyadh that included Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani.
In a statement released by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Damascus declared:
“The Syrian Arab Republic announces its official recognition of the Republic of Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state, based on its belief in the right of peoples to self-determination and its commitment to promoting peace and stability in the Balkans and the world. Syria looks forward to establishing formal diplomatic relations with Kosovo and advancing cooperation in political, economic, and cultural fields.”
The decision makes Syria the 120th United Nations member state to recognize Kosovo’s independence since Pristina declared it in February 2008.
Kosovo, formerly an autonomous region of Serbia with an ethnic Albanian majority and a significant Serbian minority, came under UN administration in 1999 following NATO’s intervention in the Yugoslav conflict. The region declared independence nine years later, backed by the United States and the European Union.
By Wednesday evening, the Serbian government had yet to issue an official statement, though Serbian media outlets widely condemned the move. Commentators warned that Syria’s recognition could strain diplomatic ties between Belgrade and Damascus.
During the presidency of Bashar al-Assad, Syria maintained close relations with Serbia. Assad had consistently rejected Kosovo’s independence, declaring in a 2018 meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić that such recognition would “set a dangerous precedent encouraged by the West to dismantle sovereign states.”
However, with President al-Sharaa now leading a government more closely aligned with Western and Gulf Arab partners, Syria’s foreign policy has undergone a notable shift. Analysts suggest that Damascus’s decision to recognize Kosovo was likely influenced by pressure or encouragement from Gulf states and Western nations that view recognition as a signal of broader geopolitical alignment.