The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It was fought between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which controlled Kosovo before the war, and the Kosovo Albanian separatist militia known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The conflict ended when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened by beginning air strikes in March 1999 which resulted in Yugoslav forces withdrawing from Kosovo.
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. Kosovo lies landlocked in the centre of the Balkans, bordered by Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, Albania to the southwest, and Montenegro to the west. Most of central Kosovo sits on the plains of Metohija and the Kosovo field. The Accursed Mountains and Šar Mountains rise in the southwest and southeast, respectively. Kosovo's capital and largest city is Pristina.
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall objective, namely, to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants of Kosovo and advance regional stability in the Western Balkans."
The Kosovo Liberation Army was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the 1990s. Albanian nationalism was a central tenet of the KLA and many in its ranks supported the creation of a Greater Albania, which would encompass all Albanians in the Balkans, stressing Albanian culture, ethnicity and nation.
The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo or the Kuvendi, is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly elected by the people every four years. It was originally established by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo in 2001 to provide 'provisional, democratic self-government'. On February 17, 2008, representatives of the people of Kosovo unilaterally declared Kosovo's independence and subsequently adopted the Constitution of Kosovo, which came into effect on 15 June 2008.
Nataša Kandić is a Serbian human rights activist and coordinator of the RECOM Reconciliation Network, founder and ex-executive director of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), an organization campaigning for human rights and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia, focusing on the Serbian role in the conflict. It was formed in 1992. The HLC's research was integral to the war crimes prosecutions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), particularly the "smoking gun" video linking Serbian military forces to the Srebrenica massacres. She has won numerous international awards for her human rights work. She is a figure of controversy in Serbia where she was the subject of a defamation lawsuit by former President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić.
Human rights in Serbia are a product that reflect the country’s social norms, local political processes, state and legal history, and foreign relations with parties such as the European Union. Like human rights more generally, these rights are protected through the ongoing incorporation of global norms into legal systems and enforcement of the law, with the goal of holding duty-bearers accountable for their enactment and redress for victims of their violation. Recent reports by Human Rights Watch note persistent flaws with systemic exclusion of the Roma minority population, harassment of the press and faulty protection of asylum seekers.
The Constitution of Kosovo is the supreme law of the Republic of Kosovo, a territory of unresolved political status. Article four of the constitution establishes the rules and separate powers of the three branches of the government. The unicameral Assembly of the Republic exercises the legislative power, the executive branch led by the President and the Prime Minister which are responsible for implementing laws and the judicial system headed by the Supreme Court.
Foreign relations of Kosovo are accomplished by efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo. Kosovo operates 33 embassies abroad and is host to 22 embassies in Pristina. Kosovo has membership in several international organisations.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Kosovo have improved in recent years, most notably with the adoption of the new Constitution, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Kosovo remains one of the few Muslim-majority countries that hold regular pride parades.
Ulrike Lunacek is an Austrian politician who served as State Secretary for Cultural Affairs in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in 2020. She is a member of the Austrian Green party The Greens – The Green Alternative, part of the European Green Party.
Numerous war crimes were committed by all sides during the Kosovo War, which lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. According to Human Rights Watch, the vast majority of abuses were attributable to the government of Slobodan Milošević, mainly perpetrated by the Serbian police, the Yugoslav army, and Serb paramilitary units. During the war, regime forces killed between 7,000–9,000 Kosovar Albanians, engaged in countless acts of rape, destroyed entire villages, and displaced nearly one million people. The Kosovo Liberation Army has also been implicated in atrocities, such as kidnappings and summary executions of civilians. Moreover, the NATO bombing campaign has been harshly criticized by human rights organizations and the Serbian government for causing roughly 500 civilian casualties.
Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) is the Serbian non-governmental organisation with offices in Belgrade, Serbia, and Pristina, Kosovo. It was founded in 1992 by Nataša Kandić to document human rights violations across the former Yugoslavia in armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and, later, Kosovo.
Suzan Novoberdali is a Kosovar politician, serving as a Member of Parliament of Kosovo since 2007. She is a member of the New Kosovo Alliance political party and the New Kosova Coalition parliamentary caucus. She lost her seat in the 2010 general elections, but returned to the parliament after 14 lawmakers resigned to take cabinet positions. On April 1, 2011, she was announced as a candidate for President of Kosovo, running against former party chairman Behgjet Pacolli in the upcoming parliamentary vote that week.
The Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) is the national council of the judiciary of Kosovo. It is the oversight body that aims to ensure the independence and impartiality of the judicial system, and the administration of justice in Kosovo.
Zorica Mršević is a Serbian professor, jurist, researcher and human rights activist. She works in the field of human rights and feminism, at local and international levels.
The Social Democratic Union is a minority interest political party in Kosovo representing Bosniaks. It was founded by Duda Balje, who is also the party’s only Assembly Member. Balje was a member of the Vakat Coalition in the 2019 parliamentary election, who then later moved to the LDK parliamentary group.
The Initiative for RECOM, full name Initiative for the establishment of a Regional Commission tasked with establishing the facts about all victims of war crimes and other serious human rights violations committed on the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the period from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 2001, was an initiative to establish a regional commission for truth by agreement between the states of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Husnija Bešković is a Bosniak politician in Kosovo. He was a member of the Assembly of Kosovo in the 2004–07 term and has served as a deputy minister in the government of the Republic of Kosovo.
Ibrahim Selmanaj, whose last name is sometimes spelled Selmonaj, is a politician and former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) officer in Kosovo. He has been a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, the mayor of Deçan, and a minister in government of Kosovo. Selmanaj is a member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).
