French Sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Wednesday that Novak Djokovic's political message about Kosovo was 'not appropriate' and warned the former top-ranked Serb player that he should not do it again.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a shot against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the U.S. during their first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Monday, May 29, 2023. French Sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Wednesday that Novak Djokovic's political message about Kosovo was "not appropriate" and warned the former top-ranked Serb player that he should not do it again.
"When it comes to defending human rights and bringing people together around universal values, a sportsperson is free to do so," she said. But Oudea-Castera added that Djokovic's message was "militant, very political" and "must not be repeated." After a first-round victory in Paris on Monday, Djokovic wrote in Serbian on the lens of a courtside TV camera: "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence."
A former province of Serbia, Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence is not recognized by Belgrade. Ethnic Albanians make up most of the population, but Kosovo has a restive Serb minority in the north of the country bordering Serbia.
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