Kosovo asks Apple to 'correctly present' its borders in Apple Maps
Kosovo in a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook asked that the company correct how its borders appear on Apple Maps, renewing debate over the politics of cartography.
Credit: Apple Maps, DuckDuckGo
Currently, Kosovo is depicted as part of Serbia on the Cupertino tech giant's mapping platform. The country, which seceded from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008, is recognized by 100 countries, including the United States. Serbia, importantly, does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
In a tweet posted Sunday, Kosovo's foreign minister, Meliza Haradinaj, said she has penned a letter to Cook asking the executive to "take immediate steps to correctly present Kosovo's internationally recognized borders in its AppleMap Service [sic]."
The issue of Kosovo not being recognized by Apple Maps has been the subject of Reddit discussions and Apple community forum posts. There is also a Change.org petition that calls the absence of the country's borders "very worrying."
On Apple Maps' closest competitor, Google Maps, Kosovo is depicted as disputed territory with dotted lines.
Credit: Apple Maps, DuckDuckGo
Currently, Kosovo is depicted as part of Serbia on the Cupertino tech giant's mapping platform. The country, which seceded from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008, is recognized by 100 countries, including the United States. Serbia, importantly, does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
In a tweet posted Sunday, Kosovo's foreign minister, Meliza Haradinaj, said she has penned a letter to Cook asking the executive to "take immediate steps to correctly present Kosovo's internationally recognized borders in its AppleMap Service [sic]."
On July 23rd, I've written an official letter of request to @Apple CEO @tim_cook to take immediate steps to correctly present #Kosovo's internationally recognized borders in its AppleMaps Service. Due action expected. pic.twitter.com/QreouxYxk1
-- Meliza Haradinaj (@MelizaHaradinaj)
The issue of Kosovo not being recognized by Apple Maps has been the subject of Reddit discussions and Apple community forum posts. There is also a Change.org petition that calls the absence of the country's borders "very worrying."
On Apple Maps' closest competitor, Google Maps, Kosovo is depicted as disputed territory with dotted lines.
Comments
But the fact, as stated in the article, that over half of the countries in the world recognize Kosovo would suggest that they mark it as an international border.
But that would get them in trouble in Serbia, and more significantly Russia, Serbia's strongest ally. China would also likely be annoyed.
Maybe Google's solution is the best.
I wonder why Apple or Google don’t take the option of showing different maps to different audiences.
Sounds like a clear majority to me. Get it done Apple.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Kosovo
Russia, Serbia's historical Slavic brother, literally bribes banana republics to not recognize Kosovo. Do we really think Mali and Venezuela care about ancient Balkan enmities? No. They support Russia for economic and geopolitical benefits. Four of the 5 European countries that do not recognize Kosovo - Romania, Spain, Cyprus, and Slovakia don't because they cannot politically support the idea of ethnic minorities breaking away to join their ethno-cultural cousins. Spain believes their argument that Catalonia is Spain doesn't hold as much water if they support Kosovo's independence. But Spain hasn't tried to drive Catalans out, rape their women, shovel their young men into trenches. Greece doesn't recognize Kosovo because the Greek Orthodox Church is fraternal with the Serbian Orthodox church, and because of Cyprus.
More importantly, the USA, Canada, Australia, France, the UK, Germany, Japan, in other words, what we think of as "the free world" and all the neighboring countries except Serbia all recognize the historical facts:
1. Serbia, led by Milosovic, committed ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. 10,000 + killed. 10,000+ women raped; 800,000 people driven from their homes and country at the barrel of a gun.
2. A simple google search shows you pictures of the mass graves.
3. 92% of the people who live in Kosovo are ethnically Albanians. Almost all were victims of this cleansing/genocide.
4. Nato bombed the Serbs to stop the murder, rape, and expulsion
5. Serbia lost Kosovo.
6. Kosovo became a country.
Apple needs to sack up, and join the free world in recognizing that Kosovo is an independent country. To continue to show them are part of Serbia is to reject global justice and to endorse crimes against humanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-pPOJrXNMY
Seems like the best idea. I tried to find an authoritative world map (e.g. UN, CIA, etc.) but seems like there isn't one standard way of showing the Serbia/Kosovo territory.