KOSOVO

Teacher: Fatime Gallopeni

By: Blendon Kyyku

XI-9
Kosovois adisputed territoryandpartially recognised
stateinSoutheastern Europethatdeclared
independencefromSerbiain February 2008 as theRepublic
of Kosovo.
Kosovo islandlockedin the centralBalkan Peninsula. With
its strategic position in the Balkans, it serves as an
important link in the connection between central and south
Europe, the Adriatic Sea, and Black Sea. Its capital and
largest city isPristina, and other major urban areas
includePrizren,PejandGjakova. It is bordered
byAlbaniato the southwest, theRepublic of Macedoniato
the southeast,Montenegroto the west and the uncontested
territory of Serbia to the north and east. While Serbia
recognises administration of the territory by Kosovo's
elected government,it still continues to claim it as its
ownAutonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.
In antiquity, theDardanian Kingdom, and later the
Roman province ofDardaniawas located in the
region. The area was inhabited by several
ancientIllyrian tribes. In the Middle Ages, it was part
of theByzantine,BulgarianandSerbian Empires,
and many consider theBattle of Kosovoof 1389 to
be one of the defining moments inSerbian medieval
history. Kosovo was the core of the medieval Serbian
state and it has been the seat of theSerbian
Orthodox Churchfrom the 14th century when its
status was upgraded into a patriarchate. After being
part of theOttoman Empirefrom the 15th to the
early 20th century, in the late 19th century Kosovo
became the centre of the Albanian independence
movement with theLeague of Prizren.
As a result of the defeat in the First Balkan
War (191213), the Ottoman Empire ceded
the Vilayet of Kosovo to the Balkan League;
the Kingdom of Serbia took its larger part,
while the Kingdom of Montenegro annexed
the western part before both countries joined
the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I.
After a period of Yugoslav unitarianism in the
Kingdom, the post-World War II Yugoslav
constitution established the Autonomous
Province of Kosovo and Metohija within the
Yugoslav constituent republic of Serbia.
Long-term ethnic tensions between
Kosovo'sAlbanianand Serb populations left the
territory ethnically divided, resulting in inter-
ethnic violence, culminating in theKosovo
Warof 199899, part of the wider
regionalYugoslav Wars.The war ended with
amilitary intervention of NATO, which forced
theFederal Republic of Yugoslaviato withdraw
its troops from Kosovo, which became aUN
protectorateunderUNSCR 1244. On 17 February
2008Kosovo's Parliament declared
independence. It has since gaineddiplomatic
recognitionas asovereign stateby111UN
member states,Taiwan, theSovereign Military
Order of Malta, theCook IslandsandNiue.
Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as
a state, although with the Brussels
Agreement of 2013 it has accepted
the legitimacy of Kosovar institutions.
Kosovo has a lower-middle-income
economy and has experienced solid
economic growth over the last
decade by international financial
institutions, and has experienced
growth every year since the onset of
the global financial crisis in 2008.