Context

• Serbian great Novak Djokovic wrote on a camera lens in Serbian: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.”

About Kosovo and Serbia

• Serbia, a landlocked country in eastern Europe that shares borders with, among other countries, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, and he is perhaps the world’s best-known Serbian.
• Kosovo is a region that lies to Serbia’s southwest, sharing borders with North Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s statehood.
• The current round of violence took place after ethnic Serbs — who are a minority in Kosovo but are in a majority in northern Kosovo — tried to prevent Albanian mayors taking charge in local councils.
• The Albanians took control of the councils after Serbs boycotted local elections in Kosovo’s north in April.
• Results of the elections, which saw a turnout of less that 3.5%, were rejected by the Serbs as a sham.
• Northern Kosovo has seen frequent tensions that have their roots in the larger ethnic and political divide between the ethnic Serbs and the Albanians.

What was the Kosovo conflict about?

• Serbs and Albanians are ethnicities who have been living in this region for centuries.
• Serbs are Eastern Orthodox Christians, while the Albanians in Kosovo are majority Muslims.
• Other ethnic groups, such as the Bosnians and the Turks, are minority populations.
• Serbs are in the majority in Serbia while Albanians are in the majority in the Kosovo region.
• On the other hand, Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians view Kosovo as belonging to them, and accuse Serbia of occupation and repression.

What happened during the 1998-99 war between Kosovo and Serbia?

• From 1945, after the end of World War II, until 1992, the area in the Balkans comprising present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, was one country, officially known as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), or simply Yugoslavia, with its capital at Belgrade, which is now the capital of Serbia.
• As part of Yugoslavia, the republic of Serbia included the regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina held the status of autonomous provinces.

What happened during the 1998-99 war between Kosovo and Serbia?

• From 1945, after the end of World War II, until 1992, the area in the Balkans comprising present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, was one country, officially known as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), or simply Yugoslavia, with its capital at Belgrade, which is now the capital of Serbia.
• As part of Yugoslavia, the republic of Serbia included the regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina held the status of autonomous provinces.

What has been the status of Kosovo since then?

• While Kosovo declared independence in 2008, Serbia still considers it to be an integral part of Serbian territory.
• Countries such as India, China, and Russia do not recognise Kosovo as a separate country, while the US, the majority of EU countries, Japan and Australia do so.

Source: IE

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