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 landlocked country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest,Montenegro to the west,Serbia to the north and east and North Macedonia to the southeast. It covers an area of 10,887 km2 (4,203 sq mi) and it has a population of approximately 1.6 million. Kosovo has a varied terrain,with high plains along with rolling hills and mountains,some of which reach an altitude of over 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Its climate is mainly continental with some Mediterranean and alpine influences. Kosovo's capital and the most populous city is Pristina;other major cities and urban areas include Prizren,Ferizaj,Gjilan and Peja.
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.
Ibrahim Rugova was a Kosovo-Albanian politician,scholar,and writer,who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova,serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President of Kosovo from 2002 until his death in 2006. He oversaw a popular struggle for independence,advocating a peaceful resistance to Yugoslav rule and lobbying for U.S. and European support,especially during the Kosovo War.
Music of Kosovo is music that originates from Kosovo,a country in the Balkans. Kosovo's population is mainly Kosovo Albanians,also known as Kosovars,and there are various minority ethnic groups as well. Kosovan music is closely related to that of neighbouring Albania,as well as to that of countries in the former Yugoslavia.
The University of Pristina is a public university located in Pristina,Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–1999) as a result of the Kosovo War. The inauguration of the university was a historical occurrence not only for the people of Kosovo,but for the whole Albanian nation. On 15 February,the solemn Parliament session took place,which is also proclaimed as The University of Pristina's Day. In the composition of the newly established University of Pristina were faculties with their headquarters in Pristina:the Faculty of Philosophy,Faculty of Law and Economics,Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Medicine. Now the University of Pristina has 17 faculties,of which 14 are academic faculties and 3 are faculties of applied sciences. Contained within the emblem is a translation of the name into Latin,Universitas Studiorum Prishtiniensis.
Islam in Kosovo has a long-standing tradition dating back to the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. Before the Battle of Kosovo in 1389,the entire Balkan region had been Christianized by both the Western and Eastern Roman Empire. From 1389 until 1912,Kosovo was officially governed by the Muslim Ottoman Empire and a high level of Islamization occurred among Catholic and Orthodox Albanians,mainly due to Sufi orders and socio-political opportunism. Both Christian and Muslim Albanians intermarried and some lived as "Laramans",also known as Crypto-Christians. During the time period after World War II,Kosovo was ruled by secular socialist authorities in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). During that period,Kosovars became increasingly secularized. After the end of Communist period religion had a revival in Kosovo. Today,95.6% of Kosovo's population are Muslims,most of whom are ethnic Albanians. There are also non-Albanian speaking Muslims,who define themselves as Bosniaks,Gorani and Turks.
The flag of the Republic of Kosovo was adopted by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo immediately following the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo on 17 February 2008. The flag design emerged from an international competition,organized by an informal group from the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government known as the Kosovo Unity Team,which attracted almost one thousand entries. The winning design was proposed by Muhamer Ibrahimi. It shows six white stars in an arc above a golden map of Kosovo,all on a blue field. The stars symbolize Kosovo's six major ethnic groups:Albanians,Serbs,Bosniaks,Turks,Romani,and Gorani.
The Hunt:Me and the War Criminals is a book written by Carla Del Ponte,published in April 2008. According to Del Ponte she received information saying about 300 Serbs were kidnapped and transferred to Albania in 1999 where their organs were extracted. The book caused a considerable controversy with Kosovan and Albanian officials denying these allegations and Russian and Serbian officials demanding more investigation. ICTY stated no substantial evidence supporting the allegations was brought to the court.
France–Kosovo relations are the bilateral relations between the French Republic and the Republic of Kosovo. When Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008,France became one of the first countries to officially recognised the sovereignty of Kosovo. France has an embassy in Pristina,whereas Kosovo has an embassy in Paris.
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.
Albanian National Democratic Movement,known by its Albanian initials as LNDSH or NDSH,became a near-total anti-communist resistance in Kosovo between 1945 and 1947.
The literature of Kosovo is composed of literary texts written in Albanian,Serbian,Bosnian,and Turkish,specifically by authors of Kosovo. Kosovo produced several prominent writers in the Ottoman era. However,Ottoman authorities banned the written use of the Albanian language until 1912. This policy continued during Serb rule until the outbreak of World War II.
A substantial emigration from Kosovo has taken place in various phases during the second half of the 20th century. It is estimated that about a third of people born in Kosovo currently live outside Kosovo. Emigration has taken place in separate waves motivated mainly by economic reasons,but also as a result of the Kosovo War. The Kosovo diaspora is usually included in the wider Albanian diaspora with Albanians from Albania and North Macedonia.
As the capital city of Kosovo,Pristina is the heart of the cultural and artistic development of all Albanians that live in Kosovo. The department of cultural affairs is just one of the segments that arranges the cultural events,which make Pristina one of the cities with the most emphasized cultural and artistic traditions.
The 2000 unrest in Kosovo was the result of the United Nations Interim Administration adopting Resolution 1244 on 10 June 1999. The unrest was fought between the Kosovo Force (KFOR),Kosovar Albanians,and Kosovar Serbs. It lasted somewhere from February 16,2000 –June 6,2000. An unknown number of Kosovar Albanians and Kosovar Serbs died along with an unknown number injured,while 1 Russian KFOR soldier died from shot wounds and UNMIK vehicles were burned during the unrest.
Education in Kosovo is carried out in public and private institutions. Starting from 1999,education in Kosovo was subject to reforms at all levels:from preschool education up to university level. These reforms aimed at adjusting the education in Kosovo according to European and global contemporary standards. As a first step of this new system is considered the establishment of the Department of Education and Science (DES),which is followed with the creation of legal and professional infrastructure,which should facilitate the fundamental reformation of the education,and the establishment of the Ministry of Education,Science and Technology (MEST) in March 2002. During this period the private education system began to develop.
The architectural heritage of the Kosovo Albanians during Yugoslav rule was shown institutionalised disregard for decades prior to outright conflict at the end of the 20th century. Numerous Albanian cultural sites in Kosovo were destroyed during the period of Yugoslav rule and especially the Kosovo conflict (1998-1999) which constituted a war crime violating the Hague and Geneva Conventions. In all,225 out of 600 mosques in Kosovo were damaged,vandalised,or destroyed alongside other Islamic architecture during the conflict. Additionally 500 Albanian owned kulla dwellings and three out of four well-preserved Ottoman period urban centres located in Kosovo cities were badly damaged resulting in great loss of traditional architecture. Kosovo's public libraries,of which 65 out of 183 were completely destroyed,amounted to a loss of 900,588 volumes,while Islamic libraries sustained damage or destruction resulting in the loss of rare books,manuscripts and other collections of literature. Archives belonging to the Islamic Community of Kosovo,records spanning 500 years,were also destroyed. During the war,Islamic architectural heritage posed for Yugoslav Serb paramilitary and military forces as Albanian patrimony with destruction of non-Serbian architectural heritage being a methodical and planned component of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
Ag Apolloni is an Albanian writer,poet,playwright,scholar,and essay writer. He is a professor at the University of Prishtina,Kosovo. His literary works are widely acclaimed for their dramatic dimension,philosophical treatment,and critical attitude towards history,politics,and society.
