Of the world’s many disputed regions, perhaps none is as unique as Kosovo. To be sure, depending on one’s national origin, ethnicity, religion, legal-historical perspective or political point of view, especially if you live in or are from southeastern Europe, Kosovo is either an independent nation or it is a province, albeit autonomous province, of the Republic of Serbia.
The starting point to these differences in understand about Serbia is most likely 1389 and the Battle of Kosovo. Prior to that event, the region that is now known as Kosovo was under the control of the Serbian Kingdom and was made up of a population mixed between ethnic Serbs and Albanians (Vidmar, 2009). As a result of the battle, however, the Serbian Kingdom was defeated by the Turks and Kosovo became a territory of the Ottoman Empire for the next 500 years. During that time, the Albanian population of the area grew to become the dominant ethnic group. Serbia regained control over Kosovo on the early 1900s, gradually deepening it authority and influence over first after World War I and then more structurally after World War II and the formation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. While Yugoslav central authorities recognized other parts of the republic such as Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Hercegovina, a large amount of political discretion, they did not allow the same for Kosovo. To be sure, the historical, cultural, and linguistic links that Kosovo had formed with Albania under the Ottoman Empire, was seen as a threat to Yugoslav leaders, who did not want to lose the region to Albanian influence, especially considered that under Serbia history, Kosovo was originally Serbian. Consequently, Serbia and Yugoslavian authorities instituted a tight framework of control over Kosovo that included the political, economic, and social suppression of the ethnic Albanian majority (Vidmar, 2009). Escalating tensions and fighting between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo as a result of the fall of the Soviet Block, eventually led to Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008.
As in many other land disputes, then, the primary conflict over whether or not Kosovo is an independent state flows from its history. On one side, are the Serbs who feel that Kosovo is and has always been a part of Serbia that was taken from it centuries ago, only to have its return last century. On the other hand, you have the Albanians who argue that ethnic Albanians have occupied the area continuously since the Middle Ages and remain the majority group in the region.
A second element of the dispute is, as mentioned, religious. Since at least 1389, ethnic Albanians in Kosovo for the most part converted to Islam. Serbs, on the other hand, mainly consider themselves believers of the Christian faith. Muslim-Christian conflicts have existed in the world for hundreds of years, and Kosovo was no exception to the outbreak of such hostilities. Indeed, on the one hand there are Christian Serbs who feel that it is their right to liberate Kosovo from the Muslims; while on the other hand, there are ethnic Albanian Kosovo Muslims that want to protect and defend their territory from Christian non-believers (CapoeraZ, 2011).
The most interesting element of the Kosovar declaration of independence, however, has been the international community’s involvement and the different interpretations of whether that involvement was legal. In 1999, after the break-out of open conflict between Serbian and Kosovar forces, NATO intervened and, in essence, forced Serbia forces to withdraw. That was followed by UN involvement in the form of a peacekeeping mission that, for all intents and purposes, established international administration of Kosovo under UN Security Resolution 1244 (Vidmar, 2009). Consequently, it was under UN administration that Kosovo declared independence (). How, these actions are controversial, again, depends on one’s perspective. From a Kosovar perspective, the NATO intervention while technically contrary to international law at that time, was nevertheless valid in that it was done as a humanitarian intervention (Vidmar, 2009). Conversely, from a Serbian perspective, it was legal questionable and most likely criminal. The same is true for the UN administration of Kosovo, with different sides seeing the administration and eventual declaration of independence as a valid use or illegal abuse of UN authority.
In conclusion, the differing opinions as to the status of Kosovo as a nation has led to an almost unheard of political result. On the one hand, over 50 nations have recognized Kosovo as an independent nation. On the other hand, over 50 other nations still only recognize Kosovo as a province of Serbia. The result is a conflicting case of Kosovo being an independent nation and province of an independent nation at once.
References
CapoeraZ. (2011, Feb 19). The Valley – Hate and death during the Kosovo conflict. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDaFx0nJw5E
Vidmar, J. (2009). International legal responses to Kosovo’s declaration of independence. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 42(3). 779-851.
