Territorial Dispute of Kosovo Under The Albanian and The Serb Arguments

The Balkans has been one of the regions with the highest risk of conflict since the last century and in the post-Cold War era. The inevitable coexistence of quantitatively small, various, and heterogeneous peoples in this geography establishes the basis for conflicts. It can be assumed that the conflicts between peoples are the result of boundaries neglecting the nationality principle, and in turn such conflicts contributed to division of the Balkans into small states. For this reason, fragmentation and the emergence of small states in a region is called “Balkanization” in international relations. Kosovo is a typical example of Balkanization. The root of the problem is that the principle of nationality was not taken into account when the borders of Kosovo were drawn. In other words, the borders are drawn in accordance with considerations of power politics rather than idealpolitics. For this reason, Kosovo has been one of the most problematic regions in the world for almost a century since the Serbian occupation of Kosovo in 1912, but especially since the Kosovo’s independence process started after the Cold War. What makes Kosovo a problem is its current ethnic make-up and legal status. When the process of disintegration of began in the 1980s, it proved very difficult to convince Kosovar Albanians to maintain Kosovo’s status as a province of Serbia. Since then ethnic, linguistic and religious differences between Kosovar Albanians and the Serbs have complicated the Kosovo issue. The problems of whether Kosovo has a right to self-determination (including the problem of whether the constitution of former Yugoslavia provided Kosovo with the right to independence), or whether it is a part of Serbia (or former Yugoslavia) represent (and represented) the legal dimensions of the issue. Even though the main aspect of Albanian- Serbian conflict converges upon the struggle for the possession of Kosovo, sovereignty of Kosovo and other territorial issues contains several other problems within. In sum, Kosovo issue is further complicated by several factors: a) Kosovo’s borders were demarcated several times during the Ottoman rule, finally fixed in 1945. b) It has a mixed population of two millions, overwhelming majority are Albanians but consisting of Serbs, Turks, Bosnians, Ashkalies and Goranies. c) It is located astride a major transit root in the Balkans. d) As in the example of Turkish minority, ethnic minorities in Kosovo experience difficulties in effectively exercising their constitutional rights. The Albanian and Serbian claims to Kosovo territory are based mainly on the concept of historical rights, which emphasizes the argument of first arrival to the region. This issue of first arrival is more complicated than it looks at first, and it is almost impossible to resolve, because the parties reject the counter arguments. But the historical analysis can help resolving these conflicting claims. Concerning the question of “who arrived at Kosovo first?” Albanians claim that Illyrians who are the ancestors of Albanians came to the region before the Serbians, meanwhile the Serbians claim that they belong to the region. Serbians are the first to arrive at the Balkans among the Slavic people in 5th and 6th centuries, but it took until 12th century for them to spread into Kosovo region. The historical right argument is not valid in international law. However, if a community who claims certain right over a territory and continues its settlement in that region, the members of that community can put this argument forward to establish traditional rights, which are implicitly accepted by the international community. It can be argued that this might be the situation for the Kosovars. The both parties view Kosovo as their fatherland. They accuse each other of coming to the region afterwards and occupying Kosovo. For Albanians, the Serbians occupied Kosovo in 1912, while for Serbians, Kosovo is Albanianized through forced migration of Serbians out of Kosovo. There are points where the parties have strong points. The structure of population shows that the Kosovar Albanians are the majority in the region and the Albanian population is steadily increasing. On the other hand the Serbs have strong arguments based on the principles of international law, such as territorial integrity, state sovereignty, non-intervention in domestic affairs. Besides these general principles, the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 recognizes Kosovo as part of Yugoslavia, therefore Serbia. But the Kosovar Albanians have always rejected Serbian interpretation of Resolution 1244, claiming that Kosovo was part of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, not the republic of Serbia. With the independence of Kosovo on February 17, 2008 (which was supported by the United States, majority of the European Union member states, Albania and Turkey), the UN, although it encouraged a change in the status of Kosovo following NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999) despite its contradiction with the principle of territorial sovereignty, remained on the sidelines because of the Russian opposition and veto. Russia is the second country which opposes the Kosovo’s independence after Serbia. Despite the declaration of independence, Kosovo problem remains unsolved. Several proposals towards a possible solution can be put forward: a) A focus on today rather than history is needed. b) For a peaceful coexistence of peoples they need to stop viewing each other as “the other.” c) The parties need to give up on their so called historical rights, claims to historical fatherland, and they should stop accusing each other of being occupiers, and need to start viewing Kosovo as their common and shared homeland. d) Kosovar Serbs and Albanians should stop seeking Serbian or Albanian intervention in the affairs of Kosovo, especially in matters concerning inter community relations. e) Democratization appears to be the only way to overcome differences between peoples of Kosovo and to create conditions for peaceful coexistence. f) Economic development and the resultant increase in the level of prosperity will also help improving inter community relations. This article identifies the historical significance of the territory of Kosovo in the eyes of Kosovar Albanians and Serbs and summarizes the claims for both parties. After the diagnosis of the problem, several tentative proposals for a possible solution are put forward.