Kosovo
Introduction
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Kosovo has been under the interim administration of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since 1999. In December 2008, the European Union set up a police and rule of law mission (EULEX) to replace UNMIK, to assist with preserving stability in Kosovo, and to help with capacity building. Australia recognised Kosovo on 19 February 2008 and officially established diplomatic relations on 21 May 2008.
History
Kosovo has been inhabited since the Neolithic period and has long been a place of tension between the Serb and ethnic Albanian population. In 1389, Kosovo was the site of an important battle where invading Ottoman forces defeated a coalition army composed of various ethnic backgrounds led by Serbian Prince Lazaar Hrebeljanovič. This battle is immensely significant for many Serbs.
Following the Ottoman victory, Kosovo remained under Ottoman rule for more than four centuries. The Ottoman defeat in the Russian-Ottoman war in 1878 marked a turning point. The opening of a Serb seminary in Prizren in 1871 was the starting point of a pronounced strengthening of the Serb presence in Kosovo. Kosovo was partitioned between Montenegro and Serbia in 1912 was and became part of Yugoslavia after World War I.
Following Italian and German occupation during WW II, Kosovo was defined as an autonomous region under Federal Yugoslav, but not Serbian, jurisdiction. Under the 1974 Yugoslav constitution, Kosovo received more powers and was given the status of a Socialist Autonomous Province within Serbia, which made it a de facto Republic alongside Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia within the Federation. Kosovo received a seat on the Federal Presidency and had a vote in the Federal Presidency Council alongside the Federation’s six Republics and the Federation’s other Autonomous Province, Vojvodina.
In 1981, Kosovo Albanians agitated for full Republic status. However, the protests were suppressed and inter-ethnic tensions continued to worsen throughout the 1980s. In 1989, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, in a violation of the 1974 constitution, abolished Kosovo’s and Vojvodina’s status as Autonomous Provinces and Kosovo came under direct rule from Serbia. Kosovo Albanians began a campaign of peaceful resistance, setting up parallel state structures. In 1991, Kosovo Albanians voted for independence. One year later, Ibrahim Rugova was appointed as Kosovo’s first President.
Following the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the 1995 Dayton Agreement, which failed to address the situation in Kosovo, frustration over the situation and lack of international attention led to the formation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerrilla group. The KLA started armed resistance with the ultimate goal of securing the independence of Kosovo.
The tension escalated into a humanitarian crisis and NATO forces intervened to end the conflict in 1999, forcing Serbia to withdraw its military and police forces from Kosovo. Following NATO’s intervention, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1244, which authorised the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the deployment of a NATO security force (KFOR) as an interim administration pending the resolution of Kosovo’s status.
Status process
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari was appointed on 20 February 2006 to oversee Kosovo’s status process. He facilitated talks between negotiating teams from Belgrade and Pristina. Ahtisaari presented his final report to the United Nations’ Secretary-General on 26 March 2007. The report found that further talks would be unproductive and that the only viable option for Kosovo was “managed independence,” with an initial period of supervision by the international community. The report concluded that neither full Serbian control, nor autonomy within Serbia, were viable options for the province. Instead, the report found that independence was the only tenable means of ensuring political stability and economic viability in Kosovo, a province where ethnic Albanians make up almost 90 per cent of the population.
The European Union has set up a police and rule of law mission (EULEX) to replace UNMIK. EULEX is the European Union’s largest civilian mission ever launched under the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Its aim is to assist the Kosovo authorities in the rule of law area. EULEX is a technical mission which monitors and advises whilst retaining a number of limited executive powers. EULEX works under the general framework of United Nations Security Resolution 1244 and has a unified chain of command to Brussels
While widely recognized (by some 60 countries to date) Kosovo’s declaration of independence has not been universally accepted, most notably by Serbia, Greece and Russia. In autumn 2008, Belgrade asked for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on whether Kosovo’s declaration of independence was in line with international law. A statement by the ICJ is not expected before 2010.
The Australian Government has welcomed the Kosovo Government’s public commitment to adhere to the Ahtisaari plan, in particular to ensuring the safety of minorities and the protection of religious and cultural heritage sites.
Today the population is estimated to be 2.1 million, comprising Albanian (88 per cent), Serbian (7 per cent), and other minorities (5 per cent Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, and Turk). Serbs continue to see Kosovo as their cultural and spiritual heartland.
Updated September 2009