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De jure vs. de facto: a pyrrhic victory in Kosovo?
07/12/2007 By Juan Garrigues
Perhaps the only thing that is clear in Kosovo is that there is a huge divide between the de jure status of this piece of land and the de facto reality on the ground.
AFP / Getty Images
While Security Council resolution 1244 leaves no doubt that Kosovo is officially still part of Serbia, a stroll through Pristina quickly dispels this myth. Symbols of a Kosovar state are omnipresent; any sign of Serbia are long gone.
Under the aegis of the UN since 1999, the international community has assisted Kosovar in creating institutions known as the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG).
While these institutions are weak, the 90% majority Kosovar Albanians are electing their representatives and the institutions are functioning with increasing independence from international oversight.
Meanwhile, with the December 10 negotiations deadline imminent, European diplomats remain divided on which is the best of the bad solutions to Kosovo’s future status. Negotiations between Serb and Kosovar delegations have been effectively reduced to a zero sum game.
Serbia (backed by Russia) will not accept any solution that violates its territorial integrity and Kosovars (supported by Washington) will only be satisfied with independence.
It is a struggle between the de jure status of this piece of land and the de facto reality on the ground. With a declaration of independence sometime after the December 10th negotiations deadline now considered inevitable, it is important to understand what the de facto reality on the ground actually looks like.
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Keywords
EU Foreign Policy European Union Kosovo Kosovo Peacekeeping Serbia State building UN Western BalkansRelated publications
- Can Democratic Elections Solve a Civil War? The case of Serbia and Kosovo
- Kosovo: From International Province to State?
- Kosovo: the best of the bad solutions
Bio author: Juan Garrigues
Juan Garrigues holds a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and an MA in International Studies from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
