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The tension in municipalities with a Serb majority in Kosovo due to the election of Kosovar Albanian mayors has written a new chapter in the tension between the populations of this territory. A partially recognized country with an Albanian majority that has municipalities with a Serb population and that has fought in recent decades for its self-determination from Belgrade, something that has generated a war and its separation in 2008.
For days past, scenes of tension have returned to Kosovo. The confrontation between the Kosovar Serbs and the Kosovar Albanians in the north of the country has even led to the intervention of the United Nations blue helmets, which have been deployed in the area since 1999.
The reason is the inauguration of Kosovar Albanian mayors in municipalities with a Serb majority after controversial municipal elections boycotted by the Kosovar Serbs. An issue that has made the European Union ask to repeat the elections. But, what is the context in which Kosovo lives and the origin of its conflict?
Yugoslavia, the origin of the conflict in Kosovo
To understand the situation, it is necessary to go back to the times of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This extinct country was organized into six socialist republics, among which were Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia or Serbia. Within Serbia, Kosovo was constituted as an autonomous province. Kosovo was considered by Serbian nationalism as the origin of their nation, however, during the last centuries more than three quarters of the population became Albanian and the Serbs were a minority.
Problems began to arise after the death of the Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito in 1980. Kosovo Albanians claimed that Kosovo was a Socialist Republic within Yugoslavia, but these claims were harshly repressed and the origin of Serb ultranationalism expansionism, led by Slobodan Milosevic.
This figure would be in charge of crushing the non-Serb ethnic groups in Yugoslavia and would be one of the causes of the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia in the early 1990s, which would later degenerate into the Yugoslav wars.
During this conflict, tens of thousands of people died, millions were displaced, and ethnic cleansing took place. Until Yugoslavia finally disintegrated.
The Kosovo war in 1999 brought autonomy to the territory
Although Kosovo did not participate in this conflict and continued to be part of Serbia, inter-ethnic tensions continued and exploded in 1998. The Serbian government militarily occupied Kosovo to eliminate the Kosovo Albanian insurgency that was calling for self-determination.
This led to a war in which NATO even intervened, who after failed dialogues with the Milosevic government decided to bomb Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to force an end to the conflict in 1999.
The controversial bombing of Belgrade caused the end of the Milosevic government, who would later be arrested and tried for war crimes and genocide. For its part, in Kosovo blue helmets were deployed to maintain peace and the territory became self-governing until its independence was declared on February 17, 2008.
The controversial bombing of Belgrade caused the end of the Milosevic government, who would later be arrested and tried for war crimes and genocide. For its part, in Kosovo blue helmets were deployed to maintain peace and the territory became self-governing until its independence was declared on February 17, 2008. A partial self-determination recognized by more than 90 countries of the 193 that make up United Nations, but rejected by Serbia, Russia or China.
Kosovo’s independence did not bring an end to inter-ethnic tension
However, not everyone in Kosovo recognized this independence. A series of populations with a Serb majority spread throughout the territory rejected the new Kosovar Albanian government and formed the Assembly of the Community of Municipalities. Maintaining constant tension because they maintain that their rights as a minority were violated.
To put an end to this constant tension, the Government of Pristina, the Kosovar capital, undertook in 2013 to recognize the Kosovar Serb minority and to guarantee these municipalities, which have a population of about 100,000 people, to have self-government and certain autonomy. However, this has not been fulfilled.
This situation leads to the current context in which the Kosovar government imposed municipal elections in the north that were boycotted by the Kosovar Serbs. Faced with the invalidity of some elections that only had a 3.5% turnout, the Kosovar government was forced to repeat the elections after pressure from the European Union.
