The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999. The official NATO operation code name was Operation Allied Force; the United States called it "Operation Noble Anvil", while in Yugoslavia, the operation was incorrectly called "Merciful Angel", as a result of a misunderstanding or mistranslation. The bombings continued until an agreement was reached that led to the withdrawal of Yugoslav armed forces from Kosovo, and the establishment of United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), a UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2009, becomes self sufficient.
The Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians are Albanian-speaking ethnic cultural minorities which mainly inhabit Kosovo. They are sometimes considered to be Albanized Romani, but they do not self-identify as such. Prior to the Kosovo War of 1999, Ashkali registered themselves as Albanians.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo is the head of government of Kosovo.
Pristina International Airport "Adem Jashari" (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës "Adem Jashari"; is an international airport located 15 kilometres south-west of Pristina, Kosovo. The Airport has flights to numerous European destinations.
Hashim Thaçi, is a Kosovar politician who has been the President of Kosovo since April 2016. He was the first Prime Minister of Kosovo and the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the new cabinet led by Isa Mustafa, which assumed office on December 12 2014.
The Kosovo national football team represents Kosovo in international men's football. It is controlled by the Football Federation of Kosovo, the governing body for football in Kosovo.
The Football Superleague of Kosovo, also known as the IPKO Superleague of Kosovo for sponsorship reasons with IPKO is the top level of the Kosovar football league system. The Superleague is organized by the Football Federation of Kosovo and the division currently has a 12-team format. The clubs play each other three times during the season for a 33-match schedule. At the end of the season, the bottom two teams in the division are relegated to the second tier, First Football League of Kosovo.
New Kosovo Alliance is a liberal political party in Kosovo that is in the current coalition government made up by the PDK and AKR. The party was founded on 3 May 2006, by Behgjet Pacolli, a businessman. He is the founding owner of Mabetex, the Swiss-based project-engineering firm that has managed significant engineering projects ranging from restorations in the White House in the United States to the rebuilding of the Kremlin in Moscow.
Albania applied for European Union (EU) membership on 28 April 2009, and has since June 2014 been an official candidate for accession to the EU, and is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU. Albania is currently receiving €1.2bn of developmental aid until 2020 from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries.
Accession of Montenegro to the European Union (EU) is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU.
The accession of Serbia to the European Union (EU) has been on the current agenda for the future enlargement of the EU since 2011, when it became a candidate for accession. Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009. Accession negotiations are currently ongoing. Serbia is expected to complete its negotiations by the end of 2023, allowing it to join the Union by 2025.
The Kosovo national basketball team represents Kosovo in international men's basketball. It is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Kosovo, the governing body for basketball in Kosovo. They have been a member of FIBA since 13 March 2015.
Since its declaration of independence from Serbia, enacted on 17 February 2008, international recognition of Kosovo has been mixed, and the international community continues to be divided on the issue.
Kosovo and Metohija, officially the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, known as short Kosovo, or Kosmet, refers to the region of Kosovo as defined in the Constitution of Serbia. The territory of the province is disputed between Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, the latter of which has de facto control. The region had functioned as part of Serbia for most of the period between 1912 and 1999.
The Kosovo Security Force is the military of Kosovo, tasked with territorial protection and crisis response operations in Kosovo and abroad. Its main tasks are territorial defense, search and rescue, explosive ordnance and hazardous material disposal, and firefighting. The KSF's commander is Lieutenant General Rrahman Rama.
The Kosovan passport is a travel document that is issued to the citizens of Kosovo. The document facilitates international travel as well as serving as proof of citizenship. The issuance of passports is the prerogative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the exception of diplomatic passports which are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kosovan passports comply with all the recommended standards set for machine-readable passports by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but the country/citizenship code RKS is not within ISO 3166 and thus not ICAO-endorsed. The passport design was disclosed on 14 March 2008. The first passports were issued on 30 July 2008 and as of 20 May 2009, 300,000 passports have been issued to the citizens of Kosovo.
The Catholic Church has a population in Kosovo of approximately 65,000 in a region of roughly 2 million people. Another 60,000 Kosovar Catholics are outside the region, mainly for work. They are mainly ethnic Albanians, with a few Croats.
Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo on 6 October 2019.
