Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has repeated the comparison of the case of Kosovo with that of Crimea.
He made the most recent comparison in a interview for journalist Tucker Carson. It was published on December 5.
What is Lavrov's claim?
Although the facts show that the comparison of Kosovo with Crimea is baseless, Lavrov has continued to use it as a justification for Russia's forcible annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula (Crimea) in 2014 upon Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008.
Speaking about the foreign policy of the United States of America, Lavrov said that the US accepts the results of the people's elections depending on whether they like them or not. He accused the US of having historically operated by "creating a problem and then trying to use the situation for itself", while citing the conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan. As an example, he also mentioned the elections in Georgia, which, according to him, were not liked by the Americans even though "the OSCE report was positive".
As an example of "double standards" in this case, he has tried to take the case of American support for Kosovo's independence.
"When the US and other Western countries recognized Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence, they said that this is an implementation of the right to self-determination. And there was no referendum in Kosovo. A unilateral declaration of independence. After that, the Serbs approached the International Court of Justice, which ruled that, normally, they are not specific in their decisions, but they ruled that when parts of a territory declare independence, it is not necessary to have agreement with the central government. And when years later the referendum was being held in Crimea, many international observers were invited, not from international organizations, but from parliamentarians in Europe, Asia, former Soviet states, and they said that they could not accept it because it was a violation of territorial integrity. This is like 'pick and choose'. The United Nations Charter is not a menu. You have to respect it in its entirety." (video with this answer to the Russian MFA account in X)
Lavrov's statement was published in Serbian-language media (see here and here)
Where are the differences in this comparison?
NATO did not “invade” Kosovo after expelling Serbian forces, but sent a peacekeeping mission. Russian troops, on the other hand, have established control over Crimea, even before a referendum on unification with Russia was held.
NATO intervened in Kosovo after evidence of Serbian crimes against Albanians, which included mass killings and expulsions from their settlements. Russian forces have intervened in Ukraine, although there have been no reports of abuses or violence against ethnic Russians.
Kosovo declared independence but did not join Albania. Crimea, which is inhabited mainly by Russian citizens, signed an agreement to join Russia two days after a referendum that the West judged undemocratic (here).
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 (hereIn 2010, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Kosovo's declaration of independence did not violate international law (hereKosovo's independence has so far been recognized by over 100 countries, including the US and most European Union countries (here).
Furthermore, Crimea is an integral part of the state of Ukraine which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 (here). The referendum in Crimea, held on March 16, 2014, was rejected in the same year as illegal – by the votes of 100 member states of the UN General Assembly (see here).
Although the comparison of Crimea to Kosovo is untenable, senior Russian officials continue to use it as an alibi, starting with the president, Vladimir Putin (see here).
The fact-checking platform, hibrid.info, on November 11 published the report “Comparison of Ukraine and Kosovo in Russian disinformation narratives.” It compares Russian narratives about Ukraine and their connection to Kosovo for the first time. (Full report)
Analyze:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in an interview with journalist Tucker Carson, baselessly compared Kosovo's declaration of independence to the Russian annexation of Crimea in Ukraine.
He made the statement accusing the United States of "double standards" in foreign policy.
The facts refute Lavrov. The International Court of Justice has assessed that Kosovo's declaration of independence did not violate international law. Meanwhile, Crimea is an integral part of the state of Ukraine which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Based on the methodology of working on the category of truthfulness, hibrid.info assesses Lavrov's statement on the Kosovo-Crimea comparison as a "false statement".
Reasoning:
In the category of truthfulness, those statements that contain statements related to objective facts, the accuracy of which can be determined through objective verification, are evaluated. Statements treated in this category receive the assessment – false statement, half-truth, or even true statement.