The Kosovo shaped pebble in Spain’s shoe
Are Spain-Kosovo relations beginning to thaw?
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took part in the virtual EU-Western Balkans Summit in May 2020, two years after his predecessor boycotted it due to Kosovo’s attendance. Photo: Pool Moncloa / JM Cuadrado.
Spanish voices from across the ideological spectrum have discredited analogies that compare Kosovo to Catalonia.
Political analyst and author Miguel Roán believes that Spain has struggled to work out a role in the region since Kosovo declared independence. Photo courtesy of Miguel Roán.
Spain held one of the most hardline positions toward Kosovo across the continent between 2008 and 2018.
The Spanish government insists that nothing has changed.
Eastern European politics expert Ruth Ferrero-Turrión suggests that even without Spain recognizing Kosovo, the two countries should be looking at developing practical collaborations. Photo: Complutense University of Madrid.
Juan Manuel Montoro
Juan Manuel Montoro is a freelance journalist and researcher currently based in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. During 2019-20 he was a junior researcher in the program “Building Knowledge About Kosovo — Third Generation” supported by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society. His research was about Kosovo-Spain relations in popular culture and media consumptions.
This story was originally written in English.