When was kosovo a country

The Court asked acting-President Vjosa Osmani to announce the date of early elections within 40 days. Kosovo has a population of nearly 1. Albanians constitute the vast majority, but it also includes various minority groups such as Turks, Bosniaks, Serbs, Goranis, Roma, Ashkalis, and Egyptians. World Kosovo marks 13th Independence Day Serbia continues to see Kosovo as its own territory, despite recognition of its independence by over countries Talha Ozturk Acting President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu attends a ceremony to mark 13th anniversary of declaration of independence of Kosovo at Adem Jashari military post in Pristina, Kosovo on February 17, Milosevic's move drew criticism from the other Yugoslav republics.

In response, in the Kosovo Assembly voted to declare Kosovo an independent state. The assembly's vote was recognized by Albania. Tense years toward independence Since the war in Kosovo, Serbia and Kosovo saw periodic tensions. Belgrade insists the country remains part of Serbia. Dialogue with Serbia In , the European Union initiated a dialogue process to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo and Israel officially established diplomatic relations in early February.

In response, Kosovo Albanian leaders began a peaceful resistance movement in the early s, led by Ibrahim Rugova. They established a parallel government funded mainly by the Albanian diaspora.

When this movement failed to yield results, an armed resistance emerged in in the form of the Kosovo Liberation Army KLA. In late , Milosevic unleashed a brutal police and military campaign against the KLA, which included widespread atrocities against civilians. This campaign consisted primarily of aerial bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia F.

During the second elections in October , the LDK confirmed its status as the leading party. In March , violent demonstrations erupted in Kosovo, the worst since the end of the Kosovo war in Kosovo Serbs were targeted in the violence, which resulted in 19 civilian deaths, over injured persons, and over 4, displaced Serbs. The UN estimates that tens of thousands participated in the two-day ethnic violence.

Kosovo's third set of elections took place on October 24, It was the first time that Kosovo's own Central Election Commission administered elections in the country.

Although the ethnic Albanian turnout was roughly equal to the previous elections, very few Serbs voted as a result of the March violence. Ahtisaari held seventeen rounds of negotiations between Kosovar and Serbian officials in Vienna over a period of fourteen months.

Ahtisaari and his team also made twenty-six expert missions to both capitals. The plan represented a compromise between both sides. It contained broad provisions for Kosovo autonomy, including the ability to enter into international agreements and become a member in international organizations.

However, the report also constrained Kosovo's sovereignty by allowing for international civilian and military missions and enforcing power-sharing arrangements with minority groups. Russia, a Serbian ally, refused to endorse the proposal because of a lack of Serbian agreement. However, the parties were not able to reach an agreement on the final status of Kosovo.

Despite the stalemate within the Contact Group, Kosovo's authorities decided to declare independence in early as part of a process closely coordinated with the international community.

Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. The Kosovo Assembly approved a new constitution in April and it went into effect on June 15, Although Kosovo did not become independent until February and the UN did not approve the Ahtisaari plan, the constitutional drafting process still began in March The Ahtisaari plan called for a Constitutional Commission to draft a constitution.

This Commission was to be composed of 21 Kosovar members, 15 members appointed by the President of Kosovo, three members appointed by the Assembly members holding seats reserved for the Serbs, and 3 members appointed by the Assembly members holding seats reserved for other communities that were not in the majority.

In the late summer of , sub-groups of the Commission drafted segments of the Constitution. Hence the ongoing dispute over the Northern part of Kosovo as well as a other majority Serb-populated municipalities across the country.

In fact, crossing the bridge of Mitrovica over the Ibar river — which separates rather than unites the city — from South to North practically means leaving Kosovo and entering Serbia. Cars have either Serbian license plates or none at all; the currency is Dinar, not Euro; and the streets are adorned by Serbian and Russian flags, with President Putin greeting from the walls and shop windows.

People here mostly live off public sector jobs, enjoy free health care and receive their pensions, all paid for by the government in Belgrade. In the absence of tangible progress, all sides seem to have settled for an extension of the status quo: the government pretends to reform while the international administrators pretend to care.

As long as financial support keeps coming in and reforms do not really encroach on the interests of the criminal networks running local politics, the truce holds.