Tag Archives: Study in Kosovo

Kosovo, a country in south-eastern Europe bordering Montenegro in the west, Albania in the south-west and North Macedonia in the south-east. According to COUNTRYAAH, Kosovo is a nation in Eastern Europe, the capital city of which is Pristina. The latest population of Kosovo is 1,810,377. MYSTERYAROUND: Lists and descriptions of main religions and beliefs in Kosovo, including religion demographics and statistics on Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.

History: Kosovo, which had been under Turkish rule since the Battle of the Blackbird Field (Serbian = Kosovo polje) in 1389, came under part of Serbia in 1913 and with the establishment of Yugoslavia in 1918 completely. The efforts of the Albanian majority for more independence that began in the early 1980s resulted in a bloody civil war in the spring of 1998 due to the Serbian policy of oppression and the gradual radicalization of the Kosovars that it triggered (terrorist acts by the UÇK Liberation Army). The Albanian residents fled and were expelled. Between March 24 and June 10, 1999, NATO (without a UN mandate) intervened in the conflict with air strikes on Yugoslav military and infrastructure facilities. This was followed by the stationing of an armed UN protection force (KFOR = K osovo For ce), the return of Albanian refugees and the mass exodus of the Serb population. Kosovo was promised extensive autonomy within Serbia under an international protectorate. However, the majority of the Albanian population is still striving for complete independence from Serbia. Despite free local elections in October 2000, presidential elections in 2002 and parliamentary elections in 2004, the situation in Kosovo remained tense. In February 2008, the Kosovar parliament issued a unilateral declaration of independence, but this has not yet been recognized by all states. Prime Minister until 2014 was Hashim Thaçi (* 1968), who became President in 2016. In 2015, the EU and Kosovo signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement.
After internal political disputes about building an army, early elections were held on June 8, 2014. The PDK, which again lost votes, remained the strongest party with 30.4%, followed by the LDK, which received 25.2% of the votes. After difficult negotiations, the PDK and LDK agreed on the formation of a government of the grand coalition under the leadership of the LDK politician Isa Mustafa (* 1951). The previous head of government H. Thaçi became Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. On December 9, 2014, the new cabinet, which also included minority representatives, was sworn in. In October 2015, the EU and Kosovo signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement. At the beginning of November 2015, Kosovo’s application for admission to UNESCO was unsuccessful. The two-thirds majority required for this was just missed. Thousands of people took part in protests against a planned agreement to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia, some of which were accompanied by riots, in Pristina on 9 January 2016. On February 26, 2016, the parliament in Pristina elected H. Thaçi as the country’s new president in the third ballot. The opposition had tried to elect Thaci to prevent by disruptive actions. He resigned the chairmanship of the PDK and was sworn in on April 7, 2016 in the presidency. High representatives of Western states continued to criticize the spread of abuse of office and corruption, which hampers development. The Mustafa government failed to implement key projects such as building an army or a border agreement with Montenegro. Against the background of the political deadlock, Parliament withdrew its confidence in the cabinet on May 10, 2017. The previous ruling party PDK had also supported a corresponding proposal by the opposition. On June 11, 2017, early elections took place, in which an electoral alliance of the parties PDK, AAK and NK, rooted in the UÇK tradition, won 39 of the 120 parliamentary seats and 33.7% of the votes. The left-wing nationalist VV recorded strong growth, taking second place with 27.5% of the votes and 32 seats (2014: 13.6% and 16 seats). This was followed by an alliance between LDK and AKR, which won 25.5% of the votes and 29 seats. The unclear majority made it difficult to form a government. To the surprise of most observers, the former KLA leader and former prime minister succeeded R. Haradinaj (AAK), finally, to win the support of AKR and the Citizens’ Initiative Serbian List (GISL), actually his political opponents, for the formation of a coalition with PDK, AAK and NK. On 9.9.2017 he was elected head of government by parliament with a narrow majority of 61 yes votes. B. Pacolli(AKR) becameDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. On July 19, 2019, Haradinaj resignedas head of government and justified his step with the summons before the Special Court for War Crimes in The Hague. In the Kosovo war 1998-99 he was commander of the rebel organization UÇK (Liberation Army Kosovo); Serbian authorities charged him with crimes against Serb civilians. On August 22nd, 2019, the parliament voted for its self-dissolution, the speaker of parliament called new elections within 45 days.