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How did Kosovo become a country?
- In 2008, Kosovo declared independence as Europe's newest state, emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict involving authoritarian leader Slobodan Milosevic and Western military intervention.
- The current population is approximately 1.8 million, with over 90% identifying as ethnic Albanians (mostly Muslim) and about 5% as ethnic Serbs (Orthodox Christians), leaving the region divided along ethnic lines.
- Historically, Kosovo was part of Serbia from 1912 and a core component of Yugoslavia after 1918; Serbs view the territory as their "Jerusalem" and spiritual heartland.
- In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic, leveraging nationalist sentiment and minority Serb grievances, stripped Kosovo of its autonomy and placed it under direct Serbian government control, revoking Albanian political, economic, and educational rights.
- Following the 1991 disintegration of Yugoslavia, the Kosovo Albanian leadership declared independence, but the move was ignored by Serbia and the international community.
- In the late 1990s, the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) launched a guerrilla war against Serbian police to force independence, prompting a brutal crackdown by Serbian security forces and the Yugoslav Army.
- The January 15, 1999, Racak massacre, in which 45 Kosovo-Albanian civilians were killed by Serb forces, served as a turning point that triggered international intervention and accusations of crimes against humanity.
- At a peace conference in France, Western powers issued an ultimatum to Serbia and Kosovo Albanians to accept a settlement or face military action; Serbia rejected the deal, labeling it a pretext for NATO to seize territory.
- NATO conducted 78 days of airstrikes against Serbian military targets and throughout Serbia, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths and leading to Serbia's capitulation.
- Following the conflict, Serbian forces withdrew, NATO tanks occupied the region, and while Kosova Albanians returned, tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs fled to northern Serbia.
- Kosovo formally declared independence nine years after the war, establishing a "rough and ready" democracy with a growing but struggling economy.
- Current economic conditions include a high unemployment rate of 33% despite post-war rebuilding efforts transitioning the country from a communist system to a capitalist one.
- Sporadic clashes driven by ethnic tension persist, with most Kosovar Serbs rejecting the statehood of Kosovo, considering themselves citizens of Serbia, and feeling no part of the Kosovar state.
- Both Kosovo and Serbia are actively pursuing European Union membership, with political leaders acknowledging that dialogue is the only mechanism to resolve outstanding bilateral issues and overcome their shared bloody past.
- Forward-looking analysis suggests that EU accession for both nations is contingent upon their governments and peoples successfully cooperating to "bury their bloody past" and resolve inter-ethnic disputes.