Kosovo

Countries

Kosovo is a state with limited recognition, located in the Western Balkans, bordering Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro. It has a population of 1.8 million and its capital is Pristina.

A historically important territory for the events that have affected the region since the Middle Ages and during the Ottoman occupation, since the dissolution of the Yugoslav Republic, during the wars that shook the Balkan peninsula it has been at the centre of a fierce dispute with the Serbian federal government, of which Kosovo was a part at the time, over the independence aspirations of the majority of the population and ethnic tensions between the Serbian minority and the Albanian majority. These tensions led to the outbreak of a severe humanitarian crisis, which was the origin of a NATO military intervention in the late 1990s. The intervention facilitated the establishment of a provisional government, while the country was placed under an international UNMIK and NATO protectorate. NATO still maintains a military force in the country to stabilise the region. Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, but only 101 UN member states and 22 EU member states have recognised it.

Kosovo is still one of the poorest countries in Europe, with an economy that is largely backward, where one of the main sectors is the primary sector, although in recent years the other sectors are registering significant growth rates.

The Western Balkans between Euro-Atlantic aspirations, ties with Russia and China, and inter-ethnic tensions

Tensions and winds of crisis in the Balkans. The article by Antonio Stango, published on the 25th of May 2024 in Il Giornale

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Kosovo and Serbia draw attention to the western Balkans

Causes and possible developments of the recent Kosovo-Serbia tensions. The importance of Western Balkan political stability for European security. An analysis by Antonio Stango.

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