Security and Conflict / Policy Brief
Making Kosovo work
27/03/2009 By Sofia Sebastián
Armend Nimani/AFP/Getty Images
Just over a year on from the declaration of independence on 18 February 2008, Kosovo’s politics remain as uncertain as before. The divisions between the Albanian and Serb communities have if anything worsened, and tensions have been compounded by an uncoordinated international intervention that has become embroiled in Kosovo’s divided politics. Recent press comment has focused on the decision of some EU member states, such as Spain and the UK, to withdraw troops. But the real issues are more deep-seated. Unemployment in Kosovo continues to be above 40 percent, the highest in the region, and the current economic downturn is likely to intensify inter-ethnic tensions.
Democratic structures are weak and corruption widespread and there is concern about the government’s ability to manage majority-minority relations. In this Policy Brief, Sofia Sebastián explores how making Kosovo work requires the EU to reassess its current policies on the ground in Kosovo and towards Serbia. The EU needs to move beyond the dilemma of how to reconcile Serbia’s EU path with Kosovo’s independence and find a way to keep the accession machine moving forward for both Kosovo and Serbia, irrespective of the Kosovo stalemate. Good care should be taken not to reinforce partition by default.
Democratic structures are weak and corruption widespread and there is concern about the government’s ability to manage majority-minority relations. In this Policy Brief, Sofia Sebastián explores how making Kosovo work requires the EU to reassess its current policies on the ground in Kosovo and towards Serbia. The EU needs to move beyond the dilemma of how to reconcile Serbia’s EU path with Kosovo’s independence and find a way to keep the accession machine moving forward for both Kosovo and Serbia, irrespective of the Kosovo stalemate. Good care should be taken not to reinforce partition by default.
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Keywords
Civil society Conflict resolution Democratic control KosovoRelated publications
- Can Democratic Elections Solve a Civil War? The case of Serbia and Kosovo
- De jure vs. de facto: a pyrrhic victory in Kosovo?
- Kosovo: From International Province to State?
- Kosovo: the best of the bad solutions
- Kosovo: the road ahead
- The EU's challenge in Kosovo
- The Kosovo debate: beyond the headlines
- The Kosovo Quandary: on the International management of statehood
Bio author: Sofia Sebastián
Sofia Sebastian is a researcher at FRIDE. Her research focuses mainly on the Balkans, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, state-building processes, conflict and divided societies.
