Kosovo in 2008

Kosovo in 2008

Area: 10,908 sq km (4,212 sq mi)
Population (2008 est.): 2,143,000
Capital: Pristina
Chief of state: President Fatmir Sejdiu
Head of government: Prime Minister Hashim Thaci

On Feb. 17, 2008, Kosovo formally declared its independence from Serbia. Just a month earlier (on January 9), Hashim Thaci had been elected prime minister by a majority vote in the parliament. The United Nations Mission in Kosovo reported that there was progress in the development of viable government institutions and that Kosovo was consistent in reaching international standards with regard to human and minority rights. Though major violence was avoided, divisions between the majority Albanians and minority Serbs widened. International observers cautioned that the prospects for a unitary state would be difficult to achieve. Despite opposition by Kosovo’s leaders, Serbs advocated the partition of the country. Most of the tension centred on the ethnically divided northern town of Mitrovica, where Serbia’s influence on Kosovo’s Serbs remained significant. In May Serbia organized elections in Kosovo that established parallel municipal authorities in Serb areas.

The country’s constitution also ensured the rights and freedoms of minorities, including the Serbs, living in Kosovo. A report by the EU noted, however, that legislation adopted to deal with cultural and minority rights required more “effective monitoring” and that the rights of women and children were only “partially guaranteed.” A report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe stated that approximately one-third of the roughly 40,000 Roma (Gypsies), Ashkali, and Egyptians residing in Kosovo were prevented from voting and were widely underrepresented in Kosovo’s government. The report also noted that Kosovo’s education curriculum failed to promote an understanding of cultural diversity, and this led to a high dropout rate among minority students. In addition, Kosovo still lacked a comprehensive health-insurance system, and overall medical care was thus unaffordable for a majority of the population.

Organized crime, drug trafficking, and a thriving black market continued to be chief concerns amid an unemployment rate of more than 40%. For those under age 25, who accounted for about 50% of the population, unemployment was approximately 60%. Kosovo’s per capita income remained among the lowest in Europe; the average monthly wage was about €185–€210 (€1 = about $1.40). In July an international donors conference pledged €1.2 billion in aid to help rebuild Kosovo’s economy.

By year’s end, 53 countries (including all of the neighbouring states except Serbia) recognized Kosovo’s independence. In October the UN agreed to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a nonbinding advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia. The ICJ was expected to respond by mid-2009.

Milan Andrejevich