The flag of Kosovo is again at a sports competition in Serbia

In the qualifications for tennis at the tournament of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in Kuršumlijska Banja, Mal Aguši performed under the flag Kosova.

He was eliminated in the qualifiers, writes Sport Club, and this was the second time in April that the state symbol of Kosovo appeared at a sports event in Serbia.

At the Congress of the Union of European Football Federations (UEFA), which was held in Belgrade, was attended by members of this federation, including the southern Serbian province of Kosovo as an independent state.

The flag of Kosovo was thus found in the capital of Serbia among the state symbols of the member countries of this football organization, and the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) soon announced that it was an oversight by the organizers, which was immediately rectified.

Which international organizations received Kosovo

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and since then became a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Customs Organization, CEFTA, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Olympic Committee, FIFA, UEFA, ITF and numerous other sports federations and is recognized by about 100 countries.

Kosovo has been a member of the ITF since 2015.

Serbia opposed Kosovo's membership in all these organizations, and Kosovo is still waiting for admission to the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, and the OSCE.

On several occasions, Serbia has successfully prevented Kosovo's membership in Interpol and UNESCO. Membership in NATO and the United Nations is eluding Kosovo, while membership in the Council of Europe is still questionable.

The majority of Western countries demand that Serbia stop attempts to block Kosovo in international organizations.

With and without stars

After negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on the way to represent Pristina - with international mediation - in 2012, it was agreed that Kosovo would be represented at regional gatherings with an asterisk next to its name. The five countries of the European Union that do not recognize the unilaterally declared independence still respect it, as do the official institutions of the European Union. In the beginning, Belgrade insisted on the star, creating a problem when the Kosovo flag was displayed, however, that changed over time.

In the past decade, delegations from Belgrade have repeatedly refused to participate in gatherings where Kosovo did not have an asterisk next to its name. The first time was in Sarajevo in 2012, when the Pristina delegation left the meeting in Belgrade, where Kosovo was represented with a star.

The Government of Serbia then published instructions on how to proceed if Kosovo and Metohija were not represented as agreed.

In it, among other things, it is written: "This instruction also foresees situations in which Serbian officials, if and when Kosovo officials do not present themselves in accordance with the instruction, are obliged to react, namely by having the representatives of the state bodies of Serbia leave the meeting, with a written protest to the organizer."

In the spring of 2017, the then Minister of Labor, Aleksandar Vulin, left the commemoration at the Mathhausen camp in Austria due to, as he said, "the presence of a delegation from the fake state of Kosovo."

A year later, the president of Serbia goes to Paris to mark the centenary of the victory in the First World War, despite criticism for the way Kosovo was presented.

"What we can't influence, and it's a lump in everyone's throat, is that the Kosovo flag is displayed everywhere... and that their relationship... don't think that the relationship is equal, they all know the difference between us and them. But it's something that's been going on for a decade, a whole decade, maybe two, so it won't change soon, but we have to change our position and be stronger to have even more arguments, to be more and more present and to fight for our the country even stronger", said Vučić at the time.

The Berlin summit at the end of 2022 had a big impact due to the agreement of Serbian statesmen to be in the company of the Kosovo delegation. Then the heads of government of Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina signed three agreements: on mutual recognition of identity cards, university diplomas and professional qualifications.