The 1998-1999 Kosovo war saw Kosovo seeking autonomy from Serbia, after former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic deployed brutality against the Albanian majority living in Kosovo. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was an ethnic-Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo from Serbia (a republic in the federation of Yugoslavia), fighting against Milosevic’s regime. NATO intervened in the conflict on 23 March 1999 with a 78-day bombing campaign to halt oppression of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
After Serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo, Kosovo became a United Nations protectorate. The status of Kosovo as an independent nation has been the subject of many disputes particularly after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The declaration of independence elicited mixed reaction internationally, with Serbia continuing to refuse recognition of Kosovo as an independent state.
At present, ethnic Albanians form the majority in Kosovo, with over 93% of the total population. Serbians consist of 1.5% of the total Kosovan population, most of whom hold a strong resentment towards the unilateral declaration of Kosovo as an independent state. Serbians in Kosovo wish to be united with Serbia, an opinion which the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo greatly oppose.
PERSISTENT UNDERLYING TENSIONS
A football Euro Qualifier on 14 October 2014 between Albania and Serbia descended into open brawls after a drone flew above the stadium carrying a map outlining the concept of Greater Albania alongside a definition of the word “autochthonous” to suggest Albanians belong to Kosovo. This encapsulates the heart of the issue, with Serbians denying the concept of a Greater Albania. The first visit to Serbia for 68 years by an Albanian Prime Minister on 10 November 2014 turned into a diplomatic spat about the status of Kosovo.
Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, has been supportive of the declaration of independence by the Kosovan Government from Serbia. Serbian Prime Minister Alexsander Vucic accused Rama of a “provocation” when Rama said Kosovo’s independence was “undeniable” and “must be respected”. The attitude of politicians, unable to deal with the problem of Kosovo, identifies the inherent difficulty surrounding the issue of Kosovo. The Ibar Bridge in the city of Mitrovica in Kosovo provides a visual representation of the divide, with Serbians and Albanians living in the city physically separated by the Ibar River. Reconciliation between the majority Albanians and the Serb minority remains elusive, as tensions persist.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The recent indictment of Kosovar President Hashim Thaci for war crimes brings the ghosts of Kosovo’s past to the present. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers announced on 24 June 2020 that Thaci and other prominent figures, such as Kadri Veseli, the Former Speaker of Parliament of Kosovo, were indicted on suspicion of serious crimes, including “nearly 100 murders”, enforced disappearances, and torture. Thaci said the accusations were a “fabricated media bomb”, intended to incriminate him just at the moment when direct intervention by the White House could lead to positive communication between Serbia and Kosovo.
The Human Rights Watch stated that the indictment of Thaci would advance justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Kosovo war. On the other hand a key challenge to justice remains witness protection, which has hindered the success of numerous war-crimes trials of former KLA members.
Donika Emini, an analyst of the Balkans in the Europe Advisory Group argues that the KLA is an emotional issue for the people in Kosovo. People identified with the resistance fighters at a time when they felt oppressed by the government in Serbia. For Kosovan Albanians, the recent indictment serves as a reminder of the difficulties faced by this ethnic group during the disintegration of Yugoslavia. This indictment has the possibility of tempting those Kosovan Albanians that are hurt to react with anger, an action likely to create polarisation and further discontent.
Armela is a final year Law student at the University of Oxford. She has keen interests in International Law and Justice. Armela was the youngest person to be accepted as a volunteer at the Citizens Advice Bureau in Oxford and since then has been a prominent member of various social-mobility programmes at her University.