Kosovo: Independence or not?

Firstly, I must point out that the zone of the “Balkans”, in the most eastern part of Mediterranean peninsulas of south Europe, is occupied by diverse ethnic and religious groups, which are the Serbs, Macedonians, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Albanians, Croats and Bosnians.

The origins of the present conflict in the Balkans go back to the Middle Age, which makes us to analyse the complex situation of Kosovo from different points of view, in order to be able to understand what happened and what it going to happen.

The government of Serbia together with the support of the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Albano-Kosovo town which is constituted like a nation inside the nation of Serbia are the roots of the present conflict.

The so called “conflict of the Balkans”, also known as the formation of a national state in which the different ethnic groups coexist pacifically and democratically, has not been solved throughout history. The two World Wars that followed each other in Europe, has overthrown monarchies and created republics, but also has given rise to temporary solutions in the Balkans. The triumphant revolution after the Second War, when Nazi troops were defeated and occupation of the allies took place, the basis for one more and more lasting coexistence were created. However a world-wide crisis questioned again the Balkans in all their magnitude.

Nowadays, more precisely last week, Kosovo has declared their independence, in which the people of Kosovo intend with all their efforts to build an equal nation able to survive the local resistance of the Serbs. It is supposed to become a modern multi-ethnic society in a part of the world where the idea of nation is built on ties of affinity.

From a legal point of view Europe cannot claim unity on Kosovo until the mission is still under the UN administration of Kosovo. In order to reach Europe’s claim there has to be recognitions from different countries, which recently have agreed on Kosovo’s independence (such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy). However there are nations like Greece, Spain, Slovenia and Bulgaria which are still holding back their vote for the independence. The official decision for Kosovo’s independence taken by the US and EU is based on a disputed resolution of the UN that ended the war of Slobodan Milosevic. That resolution has put Kosovo under UN guardianship and called for a “political solution to the Kosovo crisis” without specifying what exactly should be done. Given the fact that Serbia has not agreed on Kosovo’s independence and that there is no Security Council resolution which may force the Serbs to do so, the split can be considered in breach of international law. As a conclusion it can be said that the solution to this conflict depends on the recognition of the international society.