Blog by Halil Gecaj, Junior Associate
The Balkans are often called the “powder keg of Europe” due to the consistent tension between the neighboring nations on the European peninsula[1]. However, the damage that can be caused from an explosion of this “powder keg” was put on full display, on the international stage, during the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Throughout the 1990s, Yugoslavia was undergoing a rise of ethnic tension and divide[2]; eventually leading to, then Communist Republics, the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina from Yugoslavia[3]. However, of these four nations, only Slovenia and North Macedonia were able to leave without much bloodshed[4]. Unlike their former countrymen, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had to fight long and bloody wars against the Yugoslavian military[5] for their independence[6]. The independence of these four nations was eventually agreed upon through the Badinter Arbitration Committee[7]. However, the Committee forgot one key player in the fall of Yugoslavia . . . Kosovo[8].
During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the Serbian Government, led by Slobodan Milošević, made the decision to reform the Serbian Constitution and remove Kosovo’s right to autonomy[9]. This was met with backlash from the majority, ethnically Albanian, population, who in turn requested a secession from Serbia and to be recognized as a Republic within Yugoslavia[10]. Going as far as adopting a constitution on September 7th, 1990, and declaring Kosovo as a Republic within Yugoslavia[11]. However, in response to this, Slobodan Milošević decided to “Ethnically Cleanse” the area, through the utilization of social and economic measures, including forcing ethnic-Albanians to leave Kosovo[12]. These actions by Slobodan Milošević led to another bloody war breaking out in the shell of the former Yugoslavia[13].
The Kosovo War began in 1998, when an ethnic Albanian militia group, designated the Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA, began to openly fight back against Serbian police and, eventually, the Serbian army[14]. During this bloody war, the Serbian forces began to target Albanian civilians, in which thousands were forced to leave their homes and flee their country[15]. Eventually, in 1999, NATO launched a bombing campaign, targeting areas throughout Kosovo and Serbia[16]. Causing Slobodan Milošević to pull Serbian forces from Kosovo and agree to an international administration of Kosovo[17]. Years later, on February 17th, 2008, Kosovo officially declared, a unilateral, independence[18]; an independence that is not recognized by the Serbian government[19]. Serbia, refusing to accept Kosovo’s independence, defaults to the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1244 and claims that Kosovo’s independence is a violation of the resolution and thus illegal[20].
On October 8, 2008, the International Court of Justice determined Kosovo’s independence and held that Kosovo was legally independent[21]. The court reasoned that the resolution failed to determine Kosovo’s final status and thus by declaring independence, Kosovo was attempting to determine their own status[22]. The court continued, to state that the obligations provided in Resolution 1244, do not prohibit a non-state actor, such as Kosovo, from declaring independence[23]. Finally, rounding out their holding, the court determined that the authors of Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence were not bound by the resolution, therefore they could not have violated it[24]. Nevertheless, out of the 195 independent sovereign nations (including Kosovo, the Holy See, and the State of Palestine)[25], only 117 of them recognize the independence of Kosovo, including countries like the United States, the UK, France, and Germany[26]. However, as previously stated, countries like Serbia have continued to ignore the I.C.J. opinion and continue to call Kosovo’s independence illegal and thus not valid[27].
Even with this long fight for recognition on the international stage, Kosovo’s future looks to be bright. With continued international involvement in matters such as the military[28], trade agreements[29], and even athletics[30], Kosovo continues to solidify its independence with each passing day. While the future is unknown to all, Kosovo’s continued movement forward has conveyed to all international parties that Kosovo is an independent nation; and with the situation currently ravaging the Middle East, Kosovo’s independence, and history, may play a crucial role in providing a peaceful solution the Palestine-Isreal conflict.
[1] Stjepan Bosnjak, Fattening the Pig: Russia’s Sphere Of Privileged Interests And The Powder Keg Of Europe, Austl. Institute of Int’l Aff. (May 18, 2022), https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/fattening-the-pig-russias-sphere-of-privileged-interests-and-the-powder-keg-of-europe/#:~:text=The%20Balkans%20have%20traditionally%20been%20known%20as,of%20major%20competing%20cultural%20or%20political%20powers.
[2] U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, The Conflicts, https://www.icty.org/en/about/what-former-yugoslavia/conflicts (last visited Nov. 8, 2024).
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Alain Pellet, The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples, 3 Eur. J. of Int’l L. 178 (1992).
[8] Id.
[9] Ivana Nizich, Human Rights Watch, Yugoslavia Human Rights Abuses in Kosovo 1990-1992 (Jeri Laber ed.).
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 2.
[14] Id.
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] Id.
[18] U.S. Dep’t of State, Office of the Historian, A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Kosovo, https://history.state.gov/countries/kosovo (last visited Nov. 8th, 2024).
[19] Stefano Fella, Kosovo: developments since 1999 and relations with Serbia 5 (House of Commons Library, 2024).
[20] Dean B. Pineles, UN Resolution 1244 Has Become an Impediment to Lasting Serbia-Kosovo Peace, BalkanInsight (July 11, 2024, 8:08) https://balkaninsight.com/2024/07/11/un-resolution-1244-has-become-an-impediment-to-lasting-serbia-kosovo-peace/.
[21] Accordance with international law of the unilateral declration of independence in respect of Kosovo, I.C.J. (Oct. 8, 2008) https://www.icj-cij.org/case/141.
[22] Id.
[23] Id.
[24] Id.
[25] Countries and Regions of the World from A to Z, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/countries_of_the_world.htm (last visited Nov. 8, 2024).
[26] Lista e Nhoheve [Acknowledgments List], Republika e Kosovë Ministria E Punëve Të Jashtme Dhe Diasporës [Republic of Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dispora], https://mfa-ks.net/lista-e-njohjeve/ (last visited Nov. 8, 2024) (providing a list of countries that recognize Kosovo).
[27] Supra, note 20.
[28] Readout of U.S.-Kosovo Bilaeral Defense Consultations, U.S. Dep’t of Defense (Feb. 23, 2024) https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3686105/readout-of-us-kosovo-bilateral-defense-consultations/#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20the%20BDC,stability%20in%20the%20Western%20Balkans (discussing agreement between the U.S. Military to support a transition of the Kosovo Security Force into a professional defense force.
[29] Kosovo-Trade Agreements, Privacy Shield Framework, https://www.privacyshield.gov/ps/article?id=Kosovo-Trade-Agreements (last visited Nov. 8, 2024) (displaying that Kosovo is a member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement).
[30] A Nation for just 14 years: already three Olympic Golds, Int’l Olympic Committee (May 4, 2023), https://olympics.com/ioc/news/a-nation-for-just-14-years-already-three-olympic-golds.