The Question of Kosovo sovereignty from Serbia
Kosovo is a province within Serbia that consists of 90% ethnic Albanians and 10% Serbs. Although the Albanians are the majority population in Kosovo, they are a minority in the former Yugoslavian republic, and hence are ruled by the Serbian government.
Since the 1990's, Kosovo, under the control of President Milosevic, suffered from drastic reforms. Albanians quickly lost all kinds of autonomies while the president began reforming Kosovo in a nationalist manner. The reforms eliminated cultural, economic and political autonomy which Kosovo previously had before the 1990's. The conflict escalated in 1996 when Albanians grew impatient with unsuccessful non-violent movements. The KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) began using violent methods as a means to wrought change. Response was quick and severe as the Serbs began committing what has been viewed as ‘genocide’ against the Albanians.
As the war escalated, more than 880,000 Albanian refugees fled to nearby countries. With death tolls swelling as the KLA and the Yugoslavian army fought against each other, the UN sought to end the conflict by sending peacekeepers into the region and bringing a cease-fire. The Serbs, however, declined this proposal. NATO, realizing the conflict would not end by means of negotiations, began targeting Yugoslavian infrastructure between March and June 1999, when Milosevic finally agreed to a cease-fire.
Since then, the UN peacekeeping forces have maintained peace in the area. But with the successes (such as returning 800,000 Albanian refugees to Kosovo) came more problems. The NATO bombings caused 200,000 Serbian refugees to flee Kosovo, with heavy death tolls from the past wars. Knowing that peacekeeping forces are only a temporary answer to the conflict, and with Kosovo becoming more active in their goal for independence, the UN must decide the fate of Kosovo.
