Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday accused the West of hypocrisy, saying his recognition of Kosovo’s independence was based on the same justification as Russia’s war against Ukraine, AFP reported.

Speaking before the UN General Assembly, he said that Western countries invoked the principles of sovereignty and human rights to approve Kosovo’s status as an independent state.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after NATO helped oust Serbian forces from the former province in a bloody war that killed an estimated 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians.

The USA and most European countries have recognized Kosovo.

“They didn’t laugh when the Russian president used the same words to justify his attack on Ukraine,” Vucic said. “They forgot that they themselves used the same rhetoric, the same words and the same explanations.”

“The worst thing is that all those who committed aggression against the Republic of Serbia are now teaching lessons about the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he added, stressing that “principles do not change from circumstance to circumstance.”

Belgrade and its main allies China and Russia, as well as five other European states, including Romania, have refused to recognize the independence of Kosovo, which is predominantly Albanian but includes areas with a Serbian majority in the north.

Tensions remain high after months of unrest in these Serb-populated areas. At the end of May, more than 30 servicemen of the NATO Forces in Kosovo (KFOR) were injured.