MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UNESCO is expected to vote on the matter during the organization’s general conference, which kicked off on Tuesday in Paris. On October 21, the majority of UNESCO's executive board voted to recommend Kosovo becoming a full member state.
"The fact that the membership of Kosovo and Metohija is being discussed today in Paris is proof of a deep crisis in international law, a crisis of the today's world," Slavenko Terzic said at a press conference held at International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya.
"How can you pass the protection of cultural heritage to the people who destroyed almost all of our cultural heritage," Terzic stressed.
Terzic said that Kosovo's UNESCO membership was not only a legal or political matter, but a matter that affects the future of Serbia's cultural heritage.
The discussions on Kosovo membership in the UNESCO and the ratification of its EU Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) could destabilize the Balkan region while Belgrade and Pristina are negotiating to normalize their bilateral relations, the Serbian ambassador went on to say.
"It is weird to sign the SAA while Belgrade and Pristina are holding talks, as well as to open the discussion on Kosovo membership of UNESCO. I am afraid it may lead to the destabilization of the region," Slavenko Terzic said.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, and has since been recognized by 108 UN member states. Belgrade, however, considers Kosovo to be part of Serbia. Dozens more countries, five EU member states and Russia, do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
