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Kosovo and U.S. Policy: Background to Independence (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date Revised June 20, 2008
Report Number RL31053
Report Type Report
Authors Steven Woehrel and Julie Kim, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
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Summary:

Close to nine years after NATO intervened militarily in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo, Kosovo declared itself an independent and sovereign state on February 17, 2008. A new Kosovo constitution came into force on June 15. These developments marked a new stage in, but not the end of, international concern and engagement in the western Balkan region. Serbia strenuously objects to and does not recognize Kosovo's independence. Kosovo represented the last major unfinished business from the wars of Yugoslav succession in the 1990s. In 1998 and 1999, the United States and its NATO allies engaged in collective action to end escalating violence in Kosovo. These efforts culminated in a 78-day NATO bombing campaign (Operation Allied Force) against Serbia from March until June 1999, when then-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic agreed to withdraw his forces from the province. Afterward, Kosovo was governed through a combination of U.N. and local Kosovar interim governing structures. Under the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999), the U.N. Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) retained ultimate political authority in the province. A NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR, was charged with providing a secure environment. UNSC Resolution 1244 did not settle Kosovo's disputed status. The ethnic Albanian majority demanded full independence for Kosovo; Serbs insisted that Kosovo remain an integral part of Serbia. In mid-2005, the U.N. began a lengthy process to address Kosovo's status. U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari proposed in early 2007 that Kosovo gain supervised independence with extensive minority rights. The Ahtisaari proposal stalled in the U.N. Security Council for the rest of the year, with the United States and some European countries in the Council strongly backing it, but with Russia opposed and threatening to wield its veto. Instead, the United States and many European countries worked closely with Kosovo leaders to coordinate Kosovo's move toward independence and establish new international missions to help implement the Ahtisaari plan. Kosovo's Serbian community, Serbia, and Russia claim that Kosovo's independence is illegal and do not recognize the legitimacy of the EU-led missions. As a consequence, UNSC Resolution 1244 remains in force, leaving UNMIK and the EU-led presences in co-existence for the time being. KFOR continues to fulfill its security responsibilities under Resolution 1244. The United States, in concert with European members of the international contact group, continues to shape international policy on Kosovo. The United States has committed peacekeeping troops to Kosovo since 1999, and currently maintains around 1,600 troops with KFOR. The Bush Administration warmly welcomed Kosovo's independence declaration in February 2008. In the 110th Congress, some introduced resolutions have addressed the prospect of Kosovo's independence. For additional information on post-independence developments in Kosovo, see CRS Report RS21721, Kosovo: Current Issues and U.S. Policy, by Steven Woehrel.
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