Trouble in Kosovo
- June 7, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Trouble in Kosovo
Subject : International Relations
Section: Places in news
Concept :
- In the aftermath of one of the worst escalation of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia in at least a decade, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sent 700 more of its peacekeeping troops to Kosovo.
The conflict:
- Both Kosovo and Serbia lie in the Balkans, a region of Europe made up of countries that were once a part of the erstwhile Republic of Yugoslavia.
- Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, unilaterally declared Independence in 2008 and is recognised as a country by about 100 nations including the U.S. and a number of EU-member countries.
- Serbia, however, does not recognise Kosovo’s sovereignty and continues to consider it as a part of itself despite having no administrative control over it.
Current situation
- Currently, an ethnic Serb minority of more than 50,000 resides in multiple municipalities in the northern part of Kosovo bordering Serbia, making up about 5.3% of the country’s population.
- The Kosovo Serbs do not recognise Kosovo state institutions, receive pay and benefits from Serbia’s budget, and pay no taxes either to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo or Belgrade, the Serbian Capital.
- Kosovo cannot become a member country of the UN without Serbia’s approval as it has its diplomatic allies in Russia and China who would veto such a decision.
- In 2013, the two reached the Brussels Agreement brokered by the EU.
- While the agreement was not fully implemented on the ground, the participation of Serbs in elections was facilitated.