The area of Kosovo is important historically for Serbia because it is an area where Serbian Christianity started. Many of the culturally important churches of Serbian heritage are found within this region. Religion as well as ethnic conflict is an important factor behind why Serbia has not recognized Kosovo as a state and still attempts to claim control over the area.

The recognition of Kosovo’s statehood from Montenegro and Macedonia is a sign of their withdraw of support for Serbia through their common ties of ethnicity. Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro all share common ties through their Southern Slavic heritage. Montenegro, once a part of Serbia, still contains a large portion of Serbs in its population. Both of these countries, being part of the former Yugoslavia, should share common ties in their ethnicity and region, however, the support of Kosovo by Montenegro and Macedonia suggests a move away from ethnic ties to a support for the Albanians in Kosovo to be able to be independent from the historical conflict between their own ethnicity and that of the Serbs.

Expelling the Macedonian ambassador from Serbia is an attempt from the Serbian government to equally loosen ties between that country and harshly criticize the nation for withdrawing support from former Yugoslavian nations. Russia continues to support Serbia. Their own ethnic ties of being Slavic (which also stem back to Russia’s support for Serbia in WWI) could indicate why they still have not recognized Kosovo as a nation.