Kenyan President William Ruto has come under fire over his 25 March recognition of the breakaway state of Kosovo, making Kenya the only country to do so since Israel in 2020.
World Population Review states 97 countries, including the US and most of Europe, also recognise Kosovo, but most African countries don’t. The stance is rooted in Africa’s long history with former Soviet republics like the former Yugoslavia, which hosted the 1961 Non-Aligned Movement summit well attended by African leaders, plays a factor. Following the USSR’s 1991 dissolution and Yugoslavia’s 1990s balkanisation, Serbia continued to provide healthcare to Africans on the continent and education in their country. More critically, African states oppose Kosovo’s independence, seeing it as a Western-backed geopolitical project that applies double standards: Supporting Kosovo while rejecting Palestine and Western Sahara. Given the West’s history of assassinating African leaders, looting resources, and fueling separatism (e.g., Biafra in Nigeria and Somaliland in Somalia), recognising Kosovo could legitimise foreign-backed secessionist threats.
Global powers China and Russia do not recognise Kosovo, either, with Russia using its veto against Kosovo’s admission as a UN member state.
The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on X condemning the move as a ‘blatant violation of international law and a breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244,’ which affirms Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo. It further warned that the decision could set a regrettable precedent in the ‘traditionally friendly Kenya-Serbia relations,’ promising to take all necessary diplomatic and political measures in response.
This is the latest in a long-running series of Ruto’s foreign-policy blunders. His opening act upon taking office in 2022 was to tweet that he would close the Western Sahara embassy, reportedly following a meeting with a Moroccan diplomat. Ruto also condemned the people-backed 2023 coup in Niger. His statement in support of Israel at the onset of the 7 October 2023 onslaught in Gaza was at odds with the far more nuanced statement from the African Union, which factored in historical context. He has come under fire over his involvement in Sudan’s proxy war, where the United Arab Emirates-backed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces used Kenya as a rear base. In February 2025, the RSF and its allies stood in Nairobi to announce a widely condemned parallel government to the one it is fighting.
Sources
https://x.com/MFASerbia/status/1905009148661518688
https://www.africanews.com/2023/07/28/kenyan-president-william-ruto-condemns-niger-coup
https://kenyanforeignpolicy.com/ruto-faces-criticism-over-israel-hamas-conflict-statement
https://thekenyatimes.com/latest-kenya-times-news/defiant-ruto-backs-sudan-parallel-govt
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-that-recognize-kosovo