 Spain, together with Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia among the European Union member states refused to recognize independence of Kosovo on the basis of unilateral declaration without agreement reached through the negotiations with the central government in Belgrade fearing the potential consequences of the Kosovo independence precedent for the world order.By mid-September 2009 Spain finished its complete withdrawal from the KFOR mission as it was no longer ‘status-neutral’.The press and experts criticized the withdrawal but 70% of Spanish citizens viewed the
withdrawal from Kosovo as a positive move.