Muhammadiyah Urges Jokowi to Recognize Kosovo

Jakarta (Antara) -- An Islamic organization leader has urged President Joko Widodo to recognize Kosovo as an independent nation like other countries, such as the U. S., and members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation do. "We urge the new government to recognize Kosovo's independence," Din Syamsuddin, the general chairman of Muhammadiyah, one of Indonesia's major Islamic organizations, said on the sidelines of the fifth World Peace Forum here on Saturday. He added that it was the right time for Indonesia to recognize Kosovo. "Following Yugoslavia's division, Indonesia has yet to recognize Kosovo, where 96 percent of some three million people are Albanian and Muslim," he remarked. Syamsuddin stated that he believed Jokowi, as the president is also known, held a different view, as reflected in the free and independent foreign policy he implemented. "Former president SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) adopted a principle of 'million friends, zero enemies.' I think the current government must deal with the Kosovo issue differently," he noted. (*)