Kosovo Finance Minister Hekuran Murati said on Monday that Pristina’s delegation was not allowed to take part in a donors’ conference for Syria and Turkey because the European Union insisted on using the status neutral designation.

Under an agreement on representation at regional meetings, Kosovo is represented with an asterisk and the footnote: “This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.” The KoSSev news portal said that the EU insisted on that designation which the delegation refused.

“The government of Kosova wants to pledge financial support and be part of all international efforts to help… Unfortunately, my country couldn’t participate and contribute due to the incorrect and discriminatory treatment from the organizer, who insisted on using the asterisk in contradiction to the letter of the initial Brussels agreement, and the spirit of today’s conference,” Murati wrote in Twitter posts.

It took changing three airplanes to make it to Brussels today to participate in the donor conference in support of people of 🇹🇷 and 🇸🇾 affected by the devastating earthquakes. The government of Kosova wants to pledge financial support and be part of all intl. efforts to help.

— Hekuran Murati (@HekuranMurati) March 20, 2023

Serbia’s delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, pledged 1.5 million Euro to be divided equally between Syria and Turkey to help deal with the devastation of the recent earthquakes.