Kosovo Vilayet (1877-1913)

19th Century

19th century data about the population of Kosovo tend to be rather conflicting, giving sometimes numerical superiority to the Serbs and sometimes to the Albanians. The Ottoman statistics are regarded as unreliable, as the empire counted its citizens by religion rather than nationality, using birth records rather than surveys of individuals.

Map published by French ethnographer G. Lejean in 1861 shows that Albanians lived on around 57% Kosovo while a similar map, published by British travellers G. M. Mackenzie and A. P. Irby in 1867 shows slightly less; these maps don't show which population was larger overall. Nevethless, maps cannot be used to measure population as they leave out density.

Modern Serbian sources estimated that around 400,000 Serbs were cleansed out of the Vilayet of Kosovo between 1876 and 1912.

Maps published by German historian Kiepert in 1876, J. Hahn and Austrian consul K. Sax, show that Albanians live on most of the territory of what is now Kosovo, however they don't show which population is larger. According to these, the regions of Kosovska Mitrovica and Kosovo Polje were settled mostly by Serbs, whereas most of the territory of western and eastern parts of today's province was settled by Muslim Albanians.

An Austrian statistics published in 1899 estimated:

• 182,650 Albanians (47.88%)
• 166,700 Serbs (43.7%)

During and after the Serbian–Ottoman War of 1876–78, between 30,000 and 70,000 Muslims, mostly Albanians, were expelled by the Serb army from the Sanjak of Ni? (located north-east of contemporary Kosovo) and fled to the Kosovo Vilayet. Serbs from the Lab region moved to Serbia during and after the war of 1876 and incoming Albanian refugees (muhaxhirë) repopulated their villages. Apart from the Lab region, sizeable numbers of Albanian refugees were resettled in other parts of northern Kosovo alongside the new Ottoman-Serbian border. Most Albanian refugees were resettled in over 30 large rural settlements in central and southeastern Kosovo. Many refugees were also spread out and resettled in urban centers that increased their populations substantially. Western diplomats reporting in 1878 placed the number of refugee families at 60,000 families in Macedonia, with 60-70,000 refugees from Serbia spread out within the vilayet of Kosovo. The Ottoman governor of the Vilayet of Kosovo estimated in 1881 the refugees number to be around 65,000 with some resettled in the Sanjaks of Üsküp and Yeni Pazar.

In the late Ottoman period, Kosovo vilayet contained a diverse population of Muslim Albanians and Orthodox Serbs that was split along religious and ethnic lines.

Muslim Albanians formed the majority of the population in Kosovo vilayet that included an important part of the urban-professional and landowning classes of major towns. Western Kosovo was composed of 50,000 inhabitants and an area dominated by the Albanian tribal system with 600 Albanians dying per year from blood feuding. The Yakova (Gjakovë) highlands contained 8 tribes that were mainly Muslim and in the Luma area near Prizren there were 5 tribes, mostly Muslim. The population of the tribal areas were composed of Kosovar Malisors (highlanders).The town of Ipek had crypto-Christians who were of the Catholic faith.

Muslim Bosniaks whose native language was Slavic formed a sizable number of Kosovo vilayet's population and were concentrated mainly in Yenipazar sanjak. Circassian refugees who came from Russia were resettled by Ottoman authorities within Kosovo vilayet in 1864, numbering some 6,000 people by the 1890s.

In the northern half of Kosovo vilayet Orthodox Serbs were the largest Christian group and formed a majority within the eastern areas. Several thousand Aromanians inhabited Kosovo vilayet. Bulgarians lived in the southern half of Kosovo vilayet.

Ottoman provincial records for 1887 estimated that Albanians formed more than half of Kosovo vilayet's population concentrated in the sanjaks of Ipek, Prizren and Pristine. In the sanjaks of Yenipazar, Taslica and Üsküp, Albanians formed a smaller proportion of the population.

The creation of Yugoslavia and the influence of Josip Broz Tito in Kosovo (1918-1980)

Yugoslavia was a country in Southeastern and Central Europe for most of the 20th century. It came into existence after World War I in 1918 under the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (it was formed from territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire) with the Kingdom of Serbia, and constituted the first union of the South Slavic people as a sovereign state, following centuries in which the region had been part of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Peter I of Serbia was its first sovereign. The kingdom gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The official name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929. Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance. In 1944 King Peter II, then living in exile, recognized it as the legitimate government. The monarchy was subsequently abolished in November 1945. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, when a communist government was established. It acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980. In 1963, the country was renamed again, as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

 FLAG OF YUGOSLAVIA

On 11 November 1945 elections were held with only the Communist-led National Front appearing on the ballot, securing all 354 seats. On 29 November, while still in exile, King Peter II was deposed by Yugoslavia's Constituent Assembly, and the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was declared. However, he refused to abdicate. Marshal Tito was now in full control, and all opposition elements were eliminated.

On 31 January 1946, the new constitution of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, modeled after the Soviet Union, established six republics, an autonomous province, and an autonomous district that were part of SR Serbia. The federal capital was Belgrade. The policy focused on a strong central government under the control of the Communist Party, and on recognition of the multiple nationalities. The flags of the republics used versions of the red flag or Slavic tricolor, with a red star in the center or in the canton.

Name	Capital	Flag
Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Socialist Republic of Croatia Socialist Republic of Macedonia Socialist Republic of Montenegro Socialist Republic of Serbia Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina Socialist Republic of Slovenia	Sarajevo Zagreb Skopje Titograd Belgrade Prishtina Novi Sad Ljubljana

Tito's regional goal was to expand south and take control of Albania and parts of Greece. In 1947, negotiations between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria led to the Bled agreement, which proposed to form a close relationship between the two Communist countries, and enable Yugoslavia to start a civil war in Greece and use Albania and Bulgaria as bases. Stalin vetoed this agreement and it was never realized. The break between Belgrade and Moscow was now imminent. Yugoslavia solved the national issue of nations and nationalities (national minorities) in a way that all nations and nationalities had the same rights. In 1974, the two provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo-Metohija, as well as the republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, were granted greater autonomy to the point that Albanian and Hungarian became nationally recognized minority languages, and the Serbo-Croat of Bosnia and Montenegro altered to a form based on the speech of the local people and not on the standards of Zagreb and Belgrade. In Slovenia the recognized minorities were Hungarians and Italians. Vojvodina and Kosovo-Metohija formed a part of the Republic of Serbia but those provinces also formed part of the federation, which led to the unique situation that Central Serbia did not have its own assembly but a joint assembly with its provinces represented in it.

Presidency

On 7 April 1963, the nation changed its official name to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Josip Broz Tito was named President for life.[¹] In the SFRY, each republic and province had its own constitution, supreme court, parliament, president and prime minister. At the top of the Yugoslav government were the President (Tito), the federal Prime Minister, and the federal Parliament (a collective Presidency was formed after Tito's death in 1980). Also important were the Communist Party general secretaries for each republic and province, and the general secretary of Central Committee of the Communist Party.

Policy in Kosovo Under Slobodan Milosevic (1989-1991)

On 28^th of  March 1989 Slobodan Miloševic who pushed over a much tougher policy for Kosovo Albanians, decided that the Serbian Constitution was to be modified to give the Serbian Assembly selective rights to be able to decide on the structure of the country, which completely turned over the veto right of Kosovo. Miloševic ICTY indictment that proposed that the amendments should be put before the Kosovo Assembly, most of the assembly members protested and eventually the voted did not reach the two-thirds majority needed. Although the votes did not reached a two-third majority needed, the Speaker of the Assembly stated that the amendments had passed and they were accepted. The President of the Kosovo Assembly Vukasin Jokanovic disproved of the amendments during court at the time of the trial. He delivered some proof to the court, both video recordings of the votes and stenographic notes of the assembly sessions. This evidenced proved that the majority voted for the constitutional amendments. A new Serbian Constitution was approved the following year, which radically reduced the powers of the autonomous provinces, keeping many previously autonomous rights to the Belgrade central establishments. They also drastically changed the countries name from the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo to the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, this was due to the fact the western region would use the Serbian name. 

Kosovo Conflict (1998 - 1999)

Even though Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was formed in the early 1990s to fight against the Serbian forces, the first official appearance occurred in Llaushe in 1997, November 28^th.  In 1997 KLA was acquiring large amount of weaponry from Albania and in early 1998 they attacked the Yugoslav authorities in Kosovo multiple times trying to take control over the Kosovar territory. Unfortunately, these attacks only increased the number of the Serbian paramilitary forces in Kosovo. The Serbian paramilitary forces gave an immediate response killing more than 2000 Kosovar civilians and KLA members. After their response, the situation in Kosovo only got worse with the Yugoslavian authorities trying to oppress the KLA members and the KLA combatants who were trying to free their place and take control over the Kosovar territory. After some time, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) intervened by bombing Yugoslavia from March 24, 1999 and it lasted until an agreement was reached to withdraw the Yugoslav troops from Kosovo on June 10, 1999. After the agreement, a UN peacekeeping mission named United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established in Kosovo.

KLA EMBLEM

›The origins of the largest political parties in Republic of Kosovo

UNMIK

The mandate of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established by the Security Council in its resolution 1244 (1999). The Mission is mandated to help ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants of Kosovo and advance regional stability in the Western Balkans. The priorities of the Mission remain to promote security, stability and respect for human rights in Kosovo and in the region.

Adopted by the Security Council at its 4011th meeting, on 10 June 1999 The Security Council, Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security, Recalling its resolutions 1160 (1998) of 31 March 1998, 1199 (1998) of 23 September 1998, 1203 (1998) of 24 October 1998 and 1239 (1999) of 14 May 1999, Regretting that there has not been full compliance with the requirements of these resolutions, Determined to resolve the grave humanitarian situation in Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and to provide for the safe and free return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes, Condemning all acts of violence against the Kosovo population as well as all terrorist acts by any party, Recalling the statement made by the Secretary-General on 9 April 1999, expressing concern at the humanitarian tragedy taking place in Kosovo, Reaffirming the right of all refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes in safety, Recalling the jurisdiction and the mandate of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Welcoming the general principles on a political solution to the Kosovo crisis adopted on 6 May 1999 (S/1999/516, annex 1 to this resolution) and welcoming also the acceptance by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of the principles set forth in points 1 to 9 of the paper presented in Belgrade on 2 June 1999 (S/1999/649, annex 2 to this resolution), and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's agreement to that paper, Reaffirming the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the other States of the region, as set out in the Helsinki Final Act and annex 2, Reaffirming the call in previous resolutions for substantial autonomy and meaningful self-administration for Kosovo, Determining that the situation in the region continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security, Determined to ensure the safety and security of international personnel and the implementation by all concerned of their responsibilities under the present resolution, and acting for these purposes under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

UNMIK 1999-2001

    The OSCE Mission in Kosovo (OMiK)is an integral part of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),mandated by the 10 June 1999 Security Council Resolution 1244 to provide an interim international civil administration under which the people of Kosovo could enjoy substantial autonomy.This Security Council Resolution vested in UNMIK all legislative and executive powers as well as the administration of the judiciary.Amongst its key tasks,UNMIK would promote the establishment of substantial autonomy and self-government in Kosovo;perform basic civil administrative functions and facilitate the political process to determine Kosovo's future status;maintain law and order and promote human rights.While supporting reconstruction efforts,humanitarian and disaster relief programmes,the interim administration would also assure the safe and unimpeded return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes in Kosovo.

International Criminal Court

    An international criminal tribunal has been set up to prosecute the victors of the 1999 war in Kosovo. Yes, you read that right. A court has been set up with a mission to investigate and bring to justice those members of the victorious Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) allegedly responsible for heinous human rights violations and atrocities committed against ethnic minorities and political opponents in the region. An outgrowth of specialist chambers set up by Priština last summer, the lumpily named Kosovo Relocated Specialist Judicial Institution (KRSJI) will be hosted in The Hague. This marks the first time that a special court has been established with the express purpose to prosecute the victors of a war.

The product of long-term negotiations aimed at integrating Kosovo into the European Union, the KRSJI will focus exclusively on KLA combatants, many of whom are revered in Kosovo. Precisely because of the controversial nature of prosecuting widely celebrated figures, all sides agreed that the tribunal should be housed away from the scene of the war. According to the government of the Netherlands.

"Prosecuting KLA members “is a sensitive issue in Kosovo. Possible suspects may be seen by sections of Kosovan society as freedom fighters, and witnesses may feel threatened in Kosovo. This is why the option of trying cases outside Kosovo was explored.”

UNMIK 2001- on wards

UNMIK's mission in Kosovo was facing obstacles before and after Kosovo declared independence. The relationship between the two pairs met some challenges along the way which led to Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, to request its withdrawal from Kosovo. Her premise behind this request was that their mission had met the end. Additionally, Kosovo citizens also agreed that its mission was, indeed, complete and that Kosovo will secure its sovereignty and functionality of the state, on its own. Many politicians and intellectuals were supporting this action, however there was backlash. This, mostly coming from serbs, who argued that the serb community in Kosovo will not be protected and represented the same, without UNMIKS's watch. (to be continued)

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF KOSOVO 

Kosovo's Parliament declared independence on 17 February, 2008. In a meeting attended by 109 members, the assembly unanemously declared Kosovo to be independent from Serbia. Some Kosovo Serbs restricted to severance have boycotted the move by declining to pursue orders from the focal government in Pristina and endeavoring to hold onto border posts and infrastructure in Serb-populated districts. There have also been random situations of violence against international institutions and governmental institutions, broadly in Northern Kosovo. There were 53 countries who recognized Kosovo as an independent state by the end of 2008, and in total untill today there are 108 countries. Five EU members still don't recognize Kosovo as an independent state and those states are: Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus ,Romania and Spain.

                                        International Recognition of Kosovo

Since its Declaration of Independence from Serbia, enacted on 17 February 2008,international recognition of Kosovo has been mixed, and the international community continues to be divided on the issue.

As of 27 July 2019, the Republic of Kosovoas received 115 diplomatic recognition as an independent state, of which 12 have since been withdrawn. As of 17 August 2019, 100 out of 193 (52%) United Nations (UN) member states, 23 out of 28 (82%) European Union (EU) member states, 25 out of 29 (86%) NATO member states, and 34 out of 57 (60%) Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states have recognized Kosovo. The government of Serbia does not recognize it as a sovereign state. In 2013, it began to normalize relations with the government of Kosovo in accordance with the Brussels Agreement, but the process stalled in November 2018 after Kosovo imposed a 100 percent tax on importing Serbian goods.

A number of states expressed concern over the unilateral character of Kosovo's declaration, or explicitly announced that they would not recognise an independent Kosovo. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) remains divided on this issue: of its five members with veto power, three (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) have recognised the declaration of independence, while the People's Republic of China has expressed concern, urging the continuation of the previous negotiation framework. The Russian Federation has rejected the declaration and considers it illegal. In May 2008, Russia, China, and India released a joint statement calling for new negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

 Although EU member states individually decide whether to recognise Kosovo, by consensus the EU has commissioned the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) to ensure peace and continued external oversight. Due to the dispute in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the reconfiguration of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and partial handover to the EULEX mission met with difficulties. In spite of Russian and Serbian protests, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proceeded with the reconfiguration plan. On 15 July 2008, he stated: "In the light of the fact that the Security Council is unable to provide guidance, I have instructed my Special Representative to move forward with the reconfiguration of UNMIK ... in order to adapt UNMIK to a changed reality." According to the Secretary-General, the "United Nations has maintained a position of strict neutrality on the question of Kosovo's status". On 26 November 2008, the UNSC gave the green light to the deployment of the EULEX mission in Kosovo. The EU mission is to assume police, justice, and customs duties from the UN, while operating under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (UNSCR 1244) that first placed Kosovo under UN administration in 1999.

The first Countries that recognised Kosovo as an Independent Country.

1	Costa Rica	17 February 2008
2	Afghanistan	18 February 2008
3	Albania	18 February 2008
4	France	18 February 2008
5	Senegal	18 February 2008
6	Turkey	18 February 2008
7	United Kingdom	18 February 2008
8	United States	18 February 2008
9	Australia	19 February 2008
10	Latvia	20 February 2008
11	Germany	20 February 2008
12	Estonia	21 February 2008
13	Italy	21 February 2008
14	Denmark	21 February 2008
15	Luxembourg	21 February 2008
16	Peru	22 February 2008
17	Belgium	24 February 2008
18	Poland	26 February 2008
19	Switzerland	27 February 2008
20	Austria	28 February 2008

Kosovo-Serbia relations after the Independence

Kosovo became a self-governed region under the United Nations, which was tasked with determining Kosovo's future standing.Kosovo announced independence in 2008 but is still not recognized by Serbia as an independent state and the reason is that Serbia considers Kosovo part of its territory. Twenty years have passed since the former Yugoslav areas were at the center of one of Europe's most violent conflicts, which killed more than 13,000 people. And their relations are still at odds.

Ongoing tensions

The murder of Oliver Ivanovic, an ethnic-Serb politician that occurred in January 2018 in northern Kosovo made the tensions even higher. After he was gunned down, discussions on normalizing relations were postponed, because Serbia claimed that this killing was "an act of terrorism." At the end of that year, Kosovo increased customs duties on imports from Serbia to 100% after the fact that Belgrade prevented Kosovo's bid to join Interpol.  But Kosovar and Serbian presidents, Hashim Thaçi and Aleksandar Vucic, will sit again on April 29th at the negotiating table in a meeting organised by France and Germany and try and find actual solutions to their pause.

    Serbia has talked up the possibility of an armed intervention in Kosovo after the parliament in Pristina overwhelmingly approved the formation of an army.Belgrade called the move the “most direct threat to peace and stability in the region”, while NATO’s chief said it was “ill-timed” and urged dialogue. All present 107 politicians in the 120-seat Kosovan parliament voted in favor of passing three draft laws to expand an existing 4,000 Kosovo security force and turn it into a regular, lightly armed army. Ethnic Serb politicians boycotted the vote.

Today's Kosovo 

Twenty years have passed for Kosovo, being free from the Serbian army's occupation and eleven years as an independent country. For Kosovan citizens, these years were hard since almost everything had to start from zero. As an independent country, Kosovo is recognized by many countries and it is striving to join the EU. This country is a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic. Moreover, this young Europeans, has reached a population of 1.83 million. Albanian population form the majority with 93% whereas the minorities; Serbs, Turkish, Bosnian, Egyptian, Gorani, Roma and Askhali form the other 7%.

Even though the war between the Serbian forces has ended, there is still no final peace deal between Serbia and Kosovo. Tentative peace talks involving a possible land swap – where Kosovo would have given up territory in the Serb-majority north in return for Serbian lands elsewhere. The economy is characterized by extremely limited regional or global economic integration, political instability, corruption, unreliable energy supply, a large informal economy, and a tenuous rule of law, including a lack of contract enforcement.

Still, Kosovo's economy has shown some progress in transitioning to a market based-system and maintaining macroeconomic stability but it is still dependent on diaspora and Western donors.  As an important location for business development, Kosovo offers comparative advantages such as: a young and well qualified population, natural resources, favorable climatic conditions, new infrastructure and a fiscal policy with the lowest taxation in the region.

The Newborn Monument is a typographic sculpture and tourist attraction in Pristina, Kosovo. It was unveiled on 17 February 2008.