Spain to allow Kosovo to attend EU meetings on the Balkans

Madrid - Spain will allow Kosovo to attend European Union meetings dealing with the Balkans during its EU presidency in the first half of 2010, despite Madrid not recognizing the former Serbian province as an independent state, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Monday. Spain will maintain contacts with Kosovo authorities within a multilateral framework, Moratinos said.

Kosovo will be able to attend meetings such as a high-level conference on the Western Balkans during the Spanish EU presidency.

Spain could recognize Kosovo if the United Nations did the same, or if Serbia reached an agreement with the province which declared independence unilaterally in February 2008, the minister explained.

Spain is among a handful of EU countries not to have recognized the independence of Kosovo. Madrid's attitude is linked by analysts to separatist strivings in Spain's own Basque and Catalan regions.