SITUATION OF THE KOSOVO SERBS
Kosovo, whose status is still disputed by many, unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Serbia still considers Kosovo as part of itself, despite the fact that in practice it has completely lost sovereignty over the territory. Europe’s youngest state, unrecognised by many, has a population of more than 90 per cent Albanian ethnicity, and the number of Serbs, who became a minority after independence, is estimated at a maximum of 90-100,000, more than half of whom live in the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo, with a smaller proportion living in other parts and municipalities in Kosovo. The most populous of the four Serb-majority municipalities is home to the University of Pristina (unofficially: University of Kosovska Mitrovica). In the mid-nineties of the last century, the Serb population was still close to 200,000, but after the Kosovo war(1999) and the pogrom of March 2004, they moved away en masse. The emigration and decline of Kosovo Serbs has continued, albeit with less intensity, until today. With the declaration of independence, many local Serb nationals have lost their jobs and their relations with the Kosovo authorities, who do not recognise them, have been turbulent, leading to ongoing clashes between them, often escalating into atrocities, typically involving confrontations between official Serbian and Kosovo diplomacy. Several ideas have been floated to resolve the situation of the (minority) Serbs in Kosovo, the most prominent of which is the proposal to create a Community of Serb Municipalities(Zajednica srpskih opština in Serbian), which would grant broad autonomy to Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo.
Kosovo: Kosovo, officially known as the Republic of Kosovo, is a territory with a still disputed status located on the Balkan Peninsula. It has a population of 1,765,985 and an area of 10,887 km², with Pristina as its capital. Formerly a part of Serbia, the region unilaterally declared its independence on February 17, 2008. According to the Serbian government’s office in charge of Kosovo, 97 states have recognized this independence, but 17 countries have since withdrawn their recognition. As a result, fewer than half of the world’s countries view Kosovo as an independent state. In the centuries following the Slavs’ settlement in the Balkans, the authority controlling the area often changed, typically between the Serbs, Bulgarians, and Byzantines. In the 10th century, the Serbs conquered and incorporated Kosovo into their medieval state. By the 14th century, Kosovo was home to the Serbian king (Prizren) and the Serbian Orthodox patriarch (Peć). As a result of Turkish conquests in the Balkans, the territory became part of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-15th century. During the centuries of Turkish rule, some Serbs left Kosovo while Albanians began to settle from the surrounding areas. Many of the Albanians, who became the majority as the Slavic population decreased, converted to Islam. By the early 20th century, during the liberation from Turkish rule, Albanians were already the majority in Kosovo, which had become part of Serbia again but remained a center of Albanian nationalism and independence movements. During this period, the Albanian population surged, and the Yugoslav state granted Kosovo extensive rights as an autonomous province within Serbia. However, they could not suppress the Albanian independence efforts. These tensions peaked during the Kosovo War from 1998 to 1999, fought between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Yugoslav police and military forces. In 1999, NATO intervened in the conflict, conducting a series of airstrikes to compel the armed forces of Yugoslavia, led by Slobodan Milošević, to withdraw from the province. Following this, the area became a UN protectorate, with NATO-led KFOR forces attempting to maintain order in Kosovo, where they remain stationed to this day even after the unilateral declaration of independence.
as part of itself: Serbia continues to regard Kosovo (referred to as Kosovo and Metohija in Serbian) as an integral part of its territory. This stance is enshrined in the country’s constitution, which states that Kosovo is an inalienable part of Serbia. The Serbian leadership refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence and views the loss of sovereignty over Kosovo as a temporary situation.
Four Serb-Majority Municipalities: The area known as North Kosovo includes four Serb-majority municipalities: North Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan, and Zubin Potok. The Kosovar authorities still do not have complete influence over these areas, but they are continuously working to extend their control. The Serbian population in these regions remains strongly connected to Serbia in every sense and strives to maintain its power in the subregion against the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. The local population prefers the Cyrillic script, used Serbian license plates on their cars until the end of 2023, and continues to use the Serbian dinar as currency, despite its recent ban by Pristina. In this turbulent situation, KFOR forces continue to maintain order in the area.
University of Pristina: The University of Pristina (unofficially known as the University of Kosovska Mitrovica) was established in 1999 following a split from the institution of the same name. The university’s Serbian staff and departments, following the separation, relocated their operations from Pristina to North Kosovska Mitrovica in 2001.
the Kosovo War: The Kosovo War began in 1998 when the Kosovo Liberation Army, organized by local Albanians, launched a guerrilla war against the authorities and armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, aiming to achieve independence for the province. Serbian nationalist leader Slobodan Milošević and his regime responded harshly, setting expulsion of the Kosovo Albanian population as a goal of the armed conflict. During the clashes, both sides conducted ethnic cleansing against each other’s populations. In an effort to prevent the expulsion of the Kosovo Albanian population, NATO initiated airstrikes against Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999, which lasted for 78 days. In response to the airstrikes, Yugoslav armed forces intensified military actions against Kosovo Albanians, displacing hundreds of thousands of them under the framework of the so-called Operation Horseshoe. Finally, on June 9, 1999, the Yugoslav leadership accepted NATO’s terms and withdrew its forces from Kosovo, placing the region under NATO occupation.
the pogrom of March 2004: Between March 17-19, 2004, former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army expelled a large number of unarmed civilian residents, primarily Serbs and other non-Albanian (mostly Roma) ethnicities, from Kosovo. It is estimated that around 4,000 individuals were displaced from their homes, 935 residential buildings were burned or destroyed, and 28 people were killed. The rage of Albanian extremists targeted not only the civilian population but also Serbian cultural heritage sites and the assets of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. During the riots, 19 memorials were destroyed, along with 16 Orthodox churches and approximately 10,000 valuable icons, frescoes, religious literature, and relics. Following the pogrom, there was intense criticism directed towards the then 20,000-member KFOR, the 3,000-member UNMIK international peacekeeping force, and the 6,000-member Kosovo police, who were unable (and many argue, unwilling) to prevent the tragic events that unfolded over a few days.
Community of Serb Municipalities: The (first) Brussels Agreement, signed in 2013 to advance the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, envisages the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo. This entity would be formed from 10 Serbian-majority municipalities in Kosovo and would enjoy broad autonomy within the Republic of Kosovo but as a part thereof. The planned municipalities to participate include: North Kosovska Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavić, Zvečan, Štrpce, Klokot-Vrbovac, Gračanica, Novo Brdo, Ranilug, and Parteš. The administrative center of this autonomous association would be in North Kosovska Mitrovica. The concept of the Community of Serb Municipalities has faced criticism from both Kosovar and Serbian sides, and to this day, its establishment has not been successful. This is partly due to indications that the Kosovar side lacks genuine intent to establish it, and partly due to the continuous conflicts rather than cooperation characterizing Serbian-Kosovar relations.