TABLE OF CONTENTS. Study Guide: NATO

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3 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction....5 II. History of the Committee....6 a. NATO. 6 b. Statement of the Problem.. 8 III. History of the Topic..10 a. Overview of the Topic b. Yugoslavia c. Disintegration of Yugoslavia and Kosovo War..11 d. Post-War Kosovo..14 e. Independence IV. Current Issues...15 a. Discrimination...15 b. Refugees c. Poverty and Unemployment..18 d. Recognition of Kosovo as an Independent State 20 e. Paths Leading to Violent Extremism and Terrorism 22 V. Basic Information on Kosovo-Serbia Relations a. UNMIK..23 b. Belgrade-Pristina Negotiation..24 c. Brussels Agreement (2013)...24 d. Resolution e. KFOR (Kosovo Force) VI. QARMA S (Questions A Resolution Must Answer) 26 VII. Position Papers 26 VIII. Closing Remarks. 27 IX. Endnotes

4 Dear Delegates, It is my pleasure to welcome you to Villa Caritas & San Pedro Model United Nations (VCSPMUN) 2017! My name is Esteban Vásquez and I am the Director of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). I look forward to having a challenging, fast-paced and above all, fun, experience with you in committee! I am at my last year of school at San Pedro, and throughout high school I have participated in model UN as a delegate and as a chair. Last year I was Assistant Director at VCSPMUN and it was a great experience which I hope will be better this year. Last summer, I went with my school delegation to Harvard MUN, and it was a great experience that gave me more interest and knowledge about Model United Nations. Outside MUN, I like to play basketball, read a lot of books, hang out with my friends, go to the beach, play music instruments (violin, guitar, ukulele) or to simply watch TV series on Netflix. This year s NATO topic will discuss one of the most perplexing issues that it has faced in the last few decades. Delegates will confront and attempt to find solutions regarding the committee role at Kosovo. This topic will provide you with information to find creative solutions for contentious debate. I look forward to meeting you at conference! Please do not hesitate to contact me at any point leading up to VCSPMUN. Sincerely, Esteban Vásquez NATO Director nato@vcspmun.org 4

5 I. INTRODUCTION The 2017 session of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at VCSPMUN will discuss a topic that requires cooperation at the international level in order to solve these problems. The role of NATO in Kosovo has had a massive impact during the last decade and they have solved a lot of problems in this country, however, there are still many issues that need to be addressed, like dealing with the poverty that the war has left, the problem of refugees, discrimination and the complete international recognition of Kosovo as an independent country, especially from Serbia.. The task of this committee is to find peaceful and rational solutions for these problems, so NATO can withdraw from the zone and achieve its final mission of achieving stability and peace. Kosovo is a country mostly populated by ethnic Albanians, and in the 20th century a lot of issues contributed to the beginning of this conflict but its roots can be traced back to a long standing and underlying problem that goes back to the outset of Communist Yugoslavia under the leadership of Comrade Tito during World War II. Kosovo has been plagued by a myriad of multiple problems since then, however, but racism against the Serbian population and minority groups that live there has been one of the most damaging. NATO has intervened in this issue since 1999 by sending peacekeeping troops and by helping to administer Kosovo among other roles. Actually, many countries recognize Kosovo as a country but there are still some issues regarding this recognition, as some nations disagree with their status of an independent country from Serbia (enacted on 17 February, 2008). Currently, 24 out of 28 (86%) of NATO member states recognize Kosovo as an independent state. The other 4 countries are Greece, Spain, Romania and Slovakia. As mentioned, discrimination is a serious problem that is faced by this country, as the Albanian majority has more political and economic power than the minority Serbian population. But it has decreased and this shows the great work that is been done. Nevertheless, other minority groups are suffering from discrimination, and they are alleging that the government is putting more attention on the Serbia-Kosovo problems instead of focusing on other issues with the same or more importance. Moreover, talks are still being held between both sides (Serbia and Kosovo) to start solving some important matters. An example is the Belgrade-Pristina EU-brokered Normalization mmade between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo on the normalization of their relations. This Role of NATO in Kosovo will prompt intense debate to find viable solutions 5

6 that benefit both sides of the issue and to solve inner problems in Kosovo. How can we make Serbia recognize Kosovo completely as an independent country? Can we? Should NATO propose more programs or operations in this zone? What projects can we make for social inclusion? Can Discrimination be completely eradicated? How do we deal with the topic? How should we deal with refugees? Can poverty be eradicated? Is there a final solution for stability in Kosovo? As there will be many issues inside the general topic, it will not be necessary to explore every detail of each one (yet it would be great!), because we will not have time to deal with all of them. However, during committee sessions, you should be able to address each problem from a general view, see how they are connected with each other in order to find general and specific solutions for each one of them. The final goal of this committee is to propose solutions on these issues. In this study guide you will receive the basic material you need to make a complete background investigation on this topic, explaining and mentioning the most important problems you need to solve. II. HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE a. NATO At the end of World War II, the European continent was so devastated that it was difficult to imagine any further problems or consequences; 36.5 million Europeans died, so day-by-day living was dominated by refugee camps and rationing. In addition, the Soviet Union was aiding communist parties to take control of governments all across the continent. In response to the steady spread of communism, solutions like the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift came into place, but still, European countries needed more confidence in their security. After much discussion and debate, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was signed on 4 April, 1949 as a broad effort to deal with: deterring Soviet expansionism, forbidding the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence on the continent, and encouraging 6

7 European political integration. The new alliance agreed on Article 5 of the Washington Treaty (NATO s founding treaty) that an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all and that if a NATO member country was attacked it would take such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force. (Article 5, the Washington Treaty). With this new security and aid, the Western European countries started a postwar restoration and an economic stability plan that made the first steps towards new political integration. By 1952, new allies joined NATO: Greece and Turkey, and in 1955, West Germany also joined. On the other hand, The Soviet Union and other communist countries created the Warsaw Pact as a reaction to Germany's NATO membership. Europe was now divided in two factions East and West, democracy against communism; the construction of the Berlin Wall, in 1961 symbolized this new uneasy stand-off. Around 1945, the Cold War started, with events like Hiroshima, atomic weapons and Potsdam Conference, and NATO was backing up the USA on issues such as the Cuban Missile Crisis (October, 1962) and in the deployment of nuclear weapons that were installed on Turkey. Nikita Kruschev responded by putting missiles in Cuba, however, this crisis came to an end, and, by 1987, the Cold War was reaching an end, as the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF), which eliminated all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with ranges of 500 1,000 kilometers and 1,000 5,500 km. The treaty did not cover sea-launched missiles. Also, during this time, NATO had a new member: the newly democratic Spain that joined in By 1989, the Berlin Wall had fallen, leading Europe into a new stage of peace. Nevertheless, this led to a lot of doubts regarding this historic alliance: was it necessary that NATO continued to exist? The answer was yes. The alliance continued to work because the fall of communism had led to the rise of nationalism and ethnic violence. This was the case of Yugoslavia, and the alliance successfully began a nine-month campaign, in 1995, that helped end the conflict of the Yugoslav civil war. NATO has continued to deal with major security issues such as Kosovo, Afghanistan or the recent Crimean crisis, in which they reaffirm their final mission: peace in Europe. They have shown the world that nowadays military defence is not enough to ensure peace and stability. Peacekeeping has become as difficult as peacemaking, which means that maintaining peace has turned as difficult as to create peace. Also, dialogue has become an important and powerful weapon which, organizations including NATO, use to deal with conflicts. 7

8 POLITICAL: NATO promotes democratic values and encourages consultation and cooperation on defence and security issues to build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict. MILITARY: NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military capacity needed to undertake crisismanagement operations. These are carried out under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty - NATO s founding treaty - or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organizations. b. Statement of the Problem Since the last decade, Kosovo has had various issues due to ethnic problems that led partly to the Kosovo War. Many civilians and soldiers had been killed, but in 1999 NATO decided to intervene in this issue. Acting in the interest of European security, they sent peacekeepers and also made several bombings in the zone, without a UN mandate as the Security Council decisions had been vetoed by Russia and China. Since this episode, NATO has been leading a peace-support operation in Kosovo: the Kosovo Force (KFOR). KFOR was established when NATO s 78-day air campaign against Milosevic s regime on Yugoslavia, aimed at putting an end to violence in Kosovo, was over. Slobodan Milosevic was a politician who was President of Serbia ( ) and President of Yugoslavia ( ). He also has had charges of war crimes, but he died on his prison cell in The Hague on 11 March, KFOR s original objectives were to deter renewed hostilities, establish a secure environment and ensure public safety and order, demilitarize the Kosovo Liberation Army, support the international humanitarian effort and coordinate with the international civil presence. Many of these objectives have been successfully achieved, but as time passed, new problems came up. Today, KFOR continues to maintain a secure and safe environment in Kosovo, however, many problems still persist and have to be urgently resolved in this new country. Among these issues is that the Serbian minority suffers from social exclusion in different regions, due to a vast Albanian majority. Furthermore, this exclusion is almost (non-existent) compared to the exclusion many minority groups (principally Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian men and women) are having in Kosovo. Another problem is Kosovo s recognition as an independent country. As of 27 February 2017, the Republic of Kosovo is recognized as an independent country by 111 out of 195 (57.5%) UN members and by 24 out of 28 (86%) NATO member countries (Greece, Spain, Romania and Slovakia are the 4 NATO members that do not recognize Kosovo). Another issue that is causing struggle is the unemployment and poverty but moreover, the lack of agreement 8

9 remains a central obstacle to achieving the country s goals for political integration and socio-economic development. Kosovo remains a poor, unjust country with a corrupt political system, lacking even essential healthcare and employment opportunities. It is nowhere close to fulfilling even the basic Sustainable Development Goals such as reducing hunger and providing health care and wellbeing. Furthermore, living in Kosovo in such conditions is made even more difficult when we consider the high rates on violence against women, lack of general safety and red herrings such as political calls for national Albanian unification. (Shqipe Gjocaj, Prishtina Insight) NATO should work with the UNMIK (United Nations Mission In Kosovo) to propose solutions on handling migrant and refugee flows and working to discourage youth from paths leading to violent extremism and terrorism. Also, radicalism and extremism, including increasing enlistment by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da esh) threaten the population. In one of the latest meetings of the UNMIK, the Russian representative mentioned that much work remained to be done, and he said that vandalism against Serbian churches, cemeteries and other symbols of cultural and religious heritage still happened, saying police had failed to intervene. Kosovo is currently making huge progress in all its objective. The problems just mentioned are the legacy of the whole Kosovo crisis that began last century, and the United Nations, together with NATO and the international community, are working towards solutions to all this issues, so Kosovo can finally enter a stage of stability, prosperity and total peace. The role of NATO in Kosovo nowadays is to ensure and maintain peace, but as new problems came out after the war, new challenges have appeared and the goal of this committee is to propose and find solutions to these. This session will debate the issues that are going to be presented and the debate will conclude with resolutions and recommendations on what actions the UN should make regarding this topic, specifically the UNMIK. The main problems that will be discussed are: Discrimination Refugees Poverty & Unemployment Recognition of Kosovo as an Independent State Paths Leading to Violent Extremism and Terrorism 9

10 III. HISTORY OF THE TOPIC a. Overview of the Topic The role of NATO in Kosovo has changed throughout the last decade as violence has decreased and a lot of issues have been solved or worked with a lot of success. A manner of showing this progress is by looking at the number of troops deployed in this zone. KFOR was initially composed of some 50,000 men and women from NATO member countries, partner countries and other non- NATO countries under unified command and control. By early 2002, KFOR was reduced to around 39,000 troops. The improved security environment enabled NATO to reduce KFOR troop levels to 26,000 by June 2003, then to 17,500 by the end of More evidence of the advance made by Kosovo is the Brussels Agreement, negotiations made by Serbia and Kosovo, to restore peace and to find proposals and solutions with mutual benefit. This shows the will of both sides to reach an agreement, although neither of them has officially signed this document, substantial progress was made. These examples help the international community to realize that this problem is more than ever closer to reaching a viable end. Nevertheless, as the progress has been generally positive, the issues that remain still need to be solved and are important because they concern the integrity, the structure and development for a sovereign country, with all its social rights and a strong community. It is important to understand the evolution of this topic throughout all its history to fully appreciate the complexity of the issues in order to find the correct answers, solutions to these perplexing problems The first step is to look back at the beginnings of the XX century. b. Yugoslavia To understand the formation and history of the Yugoslav State, we need to look back at before WWI. The Kingdom of Serbia was ruled by king Alexander I by the end of the 19th century, and he maintained close relations with Austria- Hungary. But there were conspirators with a pan-slavism ideology (political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic peoples), who weren't happy of these relations, as they wanted the liberation of all South Slavs, especially Serbs, from Austria-Hungary. So in May 1903, Serbian military officers, led by Captain Dragutin Dimitrijevic (then known as the saviour of the fatherland ), stormed into the royal palace and killed Alexander I. After this event, the conspirators installed Peter I as the new king, and a new dynasty started. This new dynasty was more nationalist, so it was less friendly to Austria-Hungary and friendlier with Russia. During the following 10

11 years, there were many disputes between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, including the two Balkan Wars ( ), in which Serbia conquered Macedonia and Kosovo. These Balkan conflicts were contained by the Great Powers, but the next conflict would be the trigger for the WW1. Around 1913, a secret society named Black Hand (founded on 1911 and led by Dragutin Dimitrijevic), was planning a maneuver against Archduke Franz Ferdinand (he wanted to unite Slavic lands within the Austro-Hungarian empire), who was from Austria-Hungary. The Black Hand society organization had the support of Serbia, and they were formed with the aim of uniting all of the territories with a South Slavic majority not ruled by either Serbia or Montenegro. They had been planning the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand when finally, on 1914, the 28th of June, the event took place and the Archduke was killed. This led to a great conflict between Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and eventually, the international community. WW1 had born. After the war, influenced by the pan- Slavism ideology, Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia. It was commonly referred to at the time as the "Versailles state". Later, the government renamed the country leading to the first official use of Yugoslavia in In 1929, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was born, and the territories of Kosovo (Kosovo was named an autonomous province inside Serbia) were reorganized among the Banate of Zeta, the Banate of Morava and the Banate of Vardar (a banate is a dominion or region ruled by a ban). As in that time there was a huge Albanian population between 1912 and 1941 in Kosovo, there was a large-scale Serbian re-colonization to change the ethnic composition of it. Meanwhile, a lot of rights were being denied to the Albanian population, like the right to receive education in their own language. This was because the kingdom only recognised the Slavic Croat, Serb, and Slovene nations as constituent nations of Yugoslavia, while other Slavs had to identify as one of the three official Slavic nations while non-slav nations (Kosovo) were only deemed as minorities. Albanians and other Muslims were forced to emigrate, mainly with the land reform, which struck Albanian landowners in 1919, but also with direct violent measures. In 1935 and 1938 two agreements between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Turkey were signed on the expatriation of 240,000 Albanians to Turkey, which was not completed because of the outbreak of World War II. c. Disintegration of Yugoslavia and Kosovo War After WWII, there was further tension between ethnic Albanians and the Yugoslav government. This was not only due to ethnic problems but also because of political ideological concerns, especially regarding relations with neighbouring Albania. Also, in 1970, the economic crisis in Yugoslavia erupted, 11

12 as a consequence to the disastrous Yugoslav governments, and the large debt problems. Around 1974, Slobodan Milosevic was the next superior figure on Serbia. Croatia and Slovenia saw this as the revival of greater Serbian hegemonism, and were not happy about this. Also, on this year, ethnic Albanians in Kosovo saw the creation of an autonomous province as not being enough, and Albanian nationalism rose, especially because they thought that their status as a "minority" in Yugoslavia had made them second-class citizens in comparison with the "nations" of Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) and demanded that Kosovo be a constituent republic, alongside the other republics of Yugoslavia. The protests by Albanians caused the Serb government to declare a state of emergency on Kosovo in 1981, and defence units were sent to the zone by the Serb government to suppress the protests, and proceeded to reduce Kosovo's autonomy. There was an increase in Albanian birth rates from 75% to 90%, which caused the Serbs to depart from the zone because of the many disputes that were having place, and also due to the tight economic climate. In March 1981, many Kosovar-Albanian students started making protests with the objective of turning Kosovo into a republic within Yugoslavia and demanding their human rights. Many protesters were arrested and the ethnic tensions continued resulting into an increase in emigration of Kosovo Serbs and other ethnic groups. Later, between 1986 and 1989, Slobodan Milosevic made the Anti-bureaucratic revolution, which were a series of protests by supporters of the Serbian leader. The protests overthrew the governments of the Serbian autonomous provinces Vojvodina and Kosovo, as well as the government of Montenegro. Milosevic replaced with allies these governments, thereby creating a dominant voting bloc in the Yugoslav presidency council (council formed by the six independent states of Yugoslavia and its two autonomous provinces). Now Serbia had more power about the decisions that Yugoslavia made, and Milosevic had gained back the control of Kosovo by intimidation and political maneuvers. A cultural oppression started against the ethnic Albanian population. Kosovo Albanians responded to these measures with the creation of a non-violent separatist movement that created parallel structures in education, medicine and taxation with the ultimate goal of the independence of Kosovo. In January 1990, the 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was convened. Slovenian and Serbian delegations were arguing about the future of this league, and the Serb delegation, led by Slobodan Milosevic, proposed one person, one vote, but Croatia and Slovenia disagreed. Instead, the 12

13 Slovenian delegation proposed to reform Yugoslavia by giving more power to republics, but they were voted down. After this, the Slovenian and Croatian delegations leaved the Congress and the all-communist party was dissolved. Communism started to fall apart and a process to democracy started in Slovenia and Croatia. These two countries were the first ones to become democratic, and this happened with all Yugoslav countries throughout 1990, except Serbia. In August 1990, the Yugoslav Wars started and between , Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declared their independence from Yugoslavia. In this way Yugoslavia was disintegrated, and, instead, The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was created on 28 April of 1992 by the union of Montenegro and Serbia. Meanwhile, in Kosovo, on July 1990, the Kosovo Albanians proclaimed the existence of the Republic of Kosovo. By 1996, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerrilla paramilitary group that sought the separation of Kosovo and the eventual creation of a Greater Albania, had prevailed over Rugova's (Ibrahim Rugova was the first president of the partially recognized Republic of Kosovo from and later from ) non-violent resistance movement and launched attacks against the Yugoslav Army (now only Serbia and Montenegro) and Serbian police in Kosovo, resulting in the commencement of the Kosovo War in The actions that took place at this war were brutal, starting with the massacre of 60 Albanians by the Serb police. From these 60 Albanians, 18 were women and 10 were children. Morale was a serious problem in Serb troops, one tank commander reported: For the entire time I was in Kosovo, I never saw an enemy soldier and my unit was never once involved in firing at enemy targets. The tanks which cost $2.5 million each were used to slaughter Albanian children... I am ashamed. (The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia). These actions caused criticism and anger in other nations, because genocide on the 20th century was just difficult to believe. Slobodan Milosevic had done and authorized many of these atrocities, including the murder of thousands of Bosnian men and boys in Srebrenica. After the war, Milosevic was arrested on 1999 and considered a war criminal even though he denied all his actions. He had charges of genocide in Bosnia and war crimes at Croatia, amongst the other ones he had. On 2002 the trial for Milosevic started, but two years later he died at the International Court of Justice, so the investigation was never completed. This means that he was never found guilty. By 1998, international pressure compelled Yugoslavia to sign a ceasefire and partially withdraw its security forces. The international community had its eyes on Kosovo and demanded a ceasefire. The ceasefire did not hold and by 13

14 December 1998, the conflict resumed arrived and as the war continued, NATO decided to take a new strategy and began a strategic attack campaign on belligerent forces within the former Yugoslavia, without any particular motion of the security council of the United Nations to legitimize their actions. NATO planned aerial attacks on Yugoslavia and also used tomahawk cruise missiles. Also, they sent troops to the ground to fight Serbs. NATO was accused of conducting attacks against civilians by Serbia. Finally, the war started to reach an end due to the operations NATO was having on the ground. d. War Kosovo On 10 June 1999, as the war reached an end, the UN Security Council passed UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which placed Kosovo under transitional UN administration (UNMIK) and authorized Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO-led peacekeeping force. Resolution 1244 provided that Kosovo would have autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and affirmed the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia, which has been legally succeeded by the Republic of Serbia. International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo. The UN-backed talks, led by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, began in February Whilst progress was made on technical matters, both parties remained diametrically opposed on the question of status itself. In 2007, a draft resolution was presented to the UN Security Council, backed by the United States, the United Kingdom and other European countries, which proposed supervised independence for Kosovo. After rewriting the draft resolution several times to accommodate Russian concerns that such a resolution would undermine the principle of state sovereignty, the draft resolution was discarded, having failed to secure Russian backing. Beginning in August a Troika (group of three people working together, especially in an administrative or managerial capacity), consisting of negotiators from the European Union, United States and Russia, launched a new effort to reach a status outcome acceptable to both Belgrade and Pristina (Belgrade was the capital of Serbia while Pristina was from Kosovo. In the end, despite Russian disapproval, the United States, United Kingdom and France appeared likely to recognize Kosovo Independence. Meanwhile NATO was working on Kosovo with the KFOR to achieve an internal peace along with political and economic equilibrium. KFOR dealt with issues that NATO was concerned about. 14

15 e. Independence Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February The Serb minority of Kosovo, which largely opposes the declaration of independence, has formed the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija in response. The creation of the assembly was condemned by Kosovo's president Fatmir Sejdiu, while UNMIK has said the assembly is not a serious issue because it will not have an operative role. On 8 October 2008, the UN General Assembly resolved, on a proposal by Serbia, to ask the International Court of Justice to render an advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence. The advisory opinion, which is not binding over decisions by states to recognise or not recognise Kosovo, was rendered on 22 July 2010, holding that Kosovo's declaration of independence was not in violation either of general principles of international law, which do not prohibit unilateral declarations of independence, nor of specific international law, in particular UNSCR 1244, which did not define the final status process nor reserve the outcome to a decision of the Security Council. (Advisory Proceedings: International Court of Justice) IV. CURRENT ISSUES a. Discrimination Although racism and discrimination has been progressively decreased in Kosovo during the last few years, it continues to be a major concern towards certain groups and minorities in Kosovo, especially Serbs. In a report from the German Newspaper Deutsche Welle, that states The London-based, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) says exclusion discrimination are forcing ethnic Bosniaks, Turks, Roma, Croats, Gorani, Ashkali Egyptians and even some Serbs out of Kosovo. As Inter-ethnic tensions continued during 2016, particularly in Kosovo s divided north. In August, two unknown suspects torched a popular café terrace in north Mitrovica, in the Serb populated part of the city. No injuries were reported and police were investigating at time of writing. Also, in August, several hundred Albanians prevented 150 Kosovo Serbs from visiting an Orthodox church in the village of Mushtisht (Humans Rights Watch, Serbia/Kosovo 2016). Even though racism and discrimination against Serbs 15

16 continues in the country, many non-serb minorities have criticized the international community for paying too much attention to Albanian-Serb relations and ignoring other groups. "The priority for the international community should be to ensure that there is some kind of international human rights mechanism to which minorities in Kosovo can turn," MRG director, Mark Lattimer, said. According to the MRG, since declaring independence, ethnic divisions have worsened between the enclave's two million Albanians, 120,000 Serbs, and 80,000 others from smaller ethnic groups, despite the presence of 14,000 NATO peacekeepers and a 2,000-strong European Union mission overseeing a fragile peace. Due to all of this discrimination, along with the challenges facing a slow economy, are making individuals from minority communities leave Kosovo, and this shows the international community the lack of human rights and a bad impression of Kosovo, as it can be concluded that they cannot deal with discrimination. One of the reasons that cause hostile treatment toward minority groups is the belief that they had been allies of the former Serb regime in This part of Kosovo's history is the cause of all the resentment we see nowadays in this zone, and the international community still needs to address this. Amnesty International (AI) a human rights NGO, states in its annual report on the human rights situation in Serbia that Serbs are still subject to attacks and other minorities discriminated against in Kosovo, and a special court to try former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is expected to be set up there as well. Violence in the north of Kosovo, inter-ethnic attacks and discrimination against minorities continues, said AI on one of their (2014/2015) reports. Regarding this issue of discrimination, the objective of the committee is to find solutions to reduce and eradicate discrimination of Serbs without forgetting the other minorities and ethnic groups that are targets of exclusion and even some of them being forced to leave Kosovo. But remember too, that for many years the Albanians had been a minority under the Yugoslav and Serbian governments, specially suffering from the atrocities committed by Slobodan Milosevic, so to find a concrete and complete solution, it is important you look at both sides of the problem. 16

17 b. Refugees According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, 17,227 people, the majority of them Kosovo Serbs, remained displaced after the armed conflict in By November 30, 2014 only 404 members of minority communities had voluntarily returned to Kosovo, where conditions for their reintegration remained grossly inadequate. Governments of the European Union, led by Germany, were in favor of aiding the refugees and relocating them in areas close to Kosovo. Emma Bonino of Italy, acting humanitarian affairs commissioner of the European Union, said that: "The further away people are from home, the more difficult it is for them to go back." The EU provided assistance to establish refugee camps in Albania and Macedonia rather than moving hundreds of thousands of refugees out of the area. NATO troops took the lead in establishing shelters and providing food, and then turned the operation of the refugee camps over to UNHCR and other relief agencies. The Kosovo conflict prompted thinking about "permanent refugees." The UNHCR has traditionally thought of three solutions for refugees: "going home, being locally integrated, or being resettled" in a third county. Some countries are still opposed to the idea of receiving refugees in their societies. Like Perparim Rama, an immigrant, said to CNN during an interview: "The idea of a refugee or of an asylum seeker has this negative connotation that, you know, these people are coming to our country and taking our wealth and so on, which I believe is completely wrong". The problem here is that the more flow of immigrants and refugees there is, the less people Kosovo will have, and the numbers are critical. As Filaj-Ballvora said, "It is alarming that around 20,000 Kosovars have fled Kosovo each month since September 2014," especially considering that Kosovo is a country of just under 2 million inhabitants. And all the countries that have been accepting these refugees are starting to close their doors and to reject great numbers of Kosovar refugees. "We know that the economic situation is difficult in Kosovo. But poverty alone, according to the Geneva Convention, is not sufficient grounds for asylum - neither in Germany nor in other EU countries," the president of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Manfred Schmidt, said. 17

18 The reasons why people are leaving Kosovo are due to its actual instability. According to the UN, 35 percent of people in Kosovo are unemployed and nearly 30 percent of the country lives in poverty. It is estimated that more than 30,000 people have left the country in the last two months, transiting illegally into EU member Hungary via Serbia. So on this specific issue, our mission is to achieve solutions to make Kosovars want to stay in their country, to promise them a better life in all its human ambits. This way we can stop refugees leaving their country and going to countries, which right now are rejecting large numbers of these people. But to find a final solution to this problem, it is necessary to make them want to live in Kosovo. c. Poverty & Unemployment Since the end of the war in 1999, the Republic of Kosovo has experienced consistent economic growth. Now a lower-middle-income country, it is one of only four countries in Europe that recorded positive growth rates during the economic crisis between , averaging about 4.5% each year. Despite its rapid growth, Kosovo continues to struggle with high rates of poverty and unemployment.! (Non-profit organization, The Borgen Project) Unemployment is an issue that is causing struggles in Kosovo, as right now it is at 40% and remains a central-economic policy challenge. Even the youth and women that work, are affected by the difficult labor market conditions that create an environment that undermines the country s social fabric. According to Kosovo Agency of Statistics 2015 household budget survey, 43% of the budget is spent on food and 30% on housing, while education and healthcare must be considered a luxury: only three per cent of the household budget is spent on health care, only one per cent on education and less than one per cent in leisure activities. The data proves the low quality of life in Kosovo and serves as indicators that Kosovars mostly work in order to survive, few can afford an enjoyable life, and the wealthy are a minority. Women, or half of the population, lack access to the job market. Due to a lack of parental leave policies, they are discouraged from seeking jobs and those who are employed are often encouraged to quit once they have a child. (Prishtina Insight, Kosovo Poor Future) The unemployment rate among youth aged is presented as a big issue, 18

19 although in a just and rational system, this age-group should be provided with greater educational opportunities to grow as individuals and professionals, providing Kosovo with skilled workers. Men and women with disabilities continue to be discriminated against both in terms of education and employment. The same goes for other marginalized groups such Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian men and women. Chart showing the unemployment in Kosovo The unemployment rate, according to official data, is around 30%, whereas according to unofficial data it is about 40%, and among youth aged 15-24, it is 55.9%. This age group accounts for the biggest number of migrants. Regarding poverty, Kosovo is one of the poorest countries in Europe with a percapita gross domestic product (GDP) of about 2,700 and about one-third of the population living below the poverty line and approximately one-eighth living in extreme poverty. Recent studies by UNICEF Kosovo showed that children are at higher risk of living in poverty in Kosovo compared to the general population. The greatest risk of poverty is for children who live in households with three or more children, children between 0 and 14 years of age, children of unemployed parents, children in households receiving social assistance, and children with low levels of education. Whereas, the risk of poverty is much lower for children 19

20 in a household with at least one employed parent. The European Union is mainstreaming an effort to fight child poverty by recognizing the multidimensional nature of the issue. Child poverty and exclusion have high social and individual costs. Children living in poverty are at higher risk of low educational attainment, poor health, and an inability to find work later in life. Investing in children, therefore, is important not only for the wellbeing of current children living in poverty, but also for the health, productivity, and engagement of future adult citizens. Kosovo is the poorest country in the region, with around 30% of the population living in poverty, 10% of them in extreme poverty, living off less than one dollar per day. About 29.2% of Kosovo s population lives in relative poverty and 8.2 of the population lives in extreme poverty (on less than 1.02 per day), meaning that 27,609 families benefit from the social assistance schemes. Research data proves that the majority of citizens live with a monthly income of less than 500 euros. (KES Publications, Standard of Living & Welfare) Poverty & unemployment are two problems that will still remain for a long time in this area as a consequence of its independence and recent autonomy. However, these issues are making many Kosovars migrate and become refugees in foreign countries. Also, this could lead to other solutions like violence and crime. These problems must be solved so Kosovars can enjoy their basic human rights as stipulated in the UN Universal declaration of human rights. d. Recognition of Kosovo as an Independent State Kosovo declared its independence on 17 February 2008, and the international community had many opinions about this event. Nevertheless, despite the disagreement of Serbia, all its neighbouring countries recognized the independence of Kosovo (except Serbia). Kosovo s independence is a symbol of the irreversible process of stability in the region and, even though many countries are still divided on this issue, it is a reality that Kosovo will continue making progress towards a final peace. The Republic of Kosovo actually has 115 diplomatic recognitions as an independent state. In the United Nations (UN), 111 out of 193 countries actually recognize Kosovo; in the European Union (EU), 23 out of 24; in NATO, 24 out of 28 and in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), 36 out of 57 countries. As said previously, the government of Serbia still doesn t recognize Kosovo as an independent state, but during the last years, both countries have 20

21 begun to normalise their relations as accorded in the Brussels Agreement. Moreover, the United Nations Security Council remains divided on this issue, as of its five members with veto power, only three (United State, UK and France) recognise Kosovo as an independent state, while the other two still disagree with this. Russia considers the declaration illegal so they have rejected it and People s Republic of China urges to continue with previous negotiations framework. "We note that the declaration of independence was made without the consent of the majority of the people of Serbia and is a violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which enshrines the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states," said Sri Lankan government in When Kosovo proclaimed its independence, Serbian reactions included returning their ambassadors from countries that had recognised Kosovo, and they accused Kosovar leaders of high treason taking the case to the International Court of Justice. As both countries started to normalise their relations by 2013, so they were allowed to enter the European Union under an agreement. By this agreement, Belgrade acknowledged that the government in Pristina exercises administrative authority over the territory of Kosovo, and that it is prepared to deal with Pristina as a legitimate governing authority. There have been many countries that have taken a side regarding this topic, but one of the most interesting positions is Russia, which at the start refused to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, but in 2014 used Kosovo's independence as an example to justify its recognition of Crimea as an independent state. Also China, as it is strongly supportive of the principles of State sovereignty and territorial integrity. It supports Serbia's position on Kosovo. Moreover, India has taken the same position, as it has consistently refused to recognise the independence of Kosovo. "In our statement, we recorded our fundamental position that the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo contradicts Resolution Russia, India and China encourage Belgrade and Pristina to resume talks within the framework of international law and hope they reach an agreement on all problems of that Serbian territory". - Statement made by the Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China during a conference in Yekaterinburg. The Government of Kosovo will remain strongly committed to full normalization of interstate relations with Serbia and to continued dialogue, aiming its finalization by mutual recognition that would enable building sustainable peace between the two countries, and establishing good, European spirit based diplomatic and neighborly relations. Upon increasing the number of 21

22 recognitions, the establishment of diplomatic relations with countries that have already recognized Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state will remain a priority. Diplomatic relations enhance recognition of Kosovo and strengthen the Kosovo`s position as a full member of the international community. In addition, these relations have the potential to bring other important benefits, such as foreign investments, commercial exchange etc. e. Paths Leading to Violent Extremism and Terrorism During the last years, many events that specially occurred on the Middle East, made it clear to the government of Kosovo that the development of plans and strategies was necessary against a new threat: violent radicalism and extremism. The advantage of the Republic of Kosovo regarding this issue is that many of its allies are experiencing the consequences of the violent acts from this new enemy, so they all can join together to fight against this new threat. Currently, there is a main threat on this issue, and it is called ISIS. This terrorist group is based in Syria and Iraq, and during the last years they have committed crimes against humanity by doing bombings or creating massacres in foreign countries. This group tries to attract citizens of many countries from that region, including Kosovo, towards violent radicalism and extremism. There have been reported cases of Kosovo citizens that have been lured by radicalization messages, and joined these terrorist groups. Then, after committing criminal acts, they return to Kosovo and keep supporting their ideals. The government of Kosovo is currently preparing a strategic document regarding this issue, and to prepare this document they are making an analysis that has as objective the answering of questions like why people chose to join such structures? What were they told, by whom, and why were they so obedient? How can we prevent people from these groups to commit violent actions? This phenomenon of extremism and violent radicalism at the moment is not showing any signs of eradication, moreover, they are ready to target and attack innocent people at any time, on any country. These people don t care about other people s lives and their own lives neither, and there is no protection that can protect a country from such a threat. In Kosovo, the security institutions have done an excellent job on discovering and preventing terrorist plans, but these institutions only serve to treat the symptoms of radicalization and not the cause of it. Therefore, in order to truly eliminate the threat coming from violent extremism and radicalism, we must determine the factors that cause its existence in Kosovo, by using dialogue, analysis, and expertise from both national and international partners. 22

23 "I think that our activity in the prevention of extremism and violence that leads to terrorism is one of the priorities that we as the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, as well as Kosovo must develop. We must develop it together because on the occasion of the adoption of the Strategy for the prevention of violent extremism and radicalization that leads to terrorism, for the period , we have estimated that radicalism as well as terrorism are issues that are not only in one country, in a region, a continent, but exceed these limits. Therefore the fight and alliance against these phenomena must be global. -Isa Mustafa, Prime Minister of Republic of Kosovo V. BASIC INFORMATION ON KOSOVO-SERBIA RELATIONS a. UNMIK UNMIK is the United Nations Interim Administration of Kosovo, which was established by the Security Council in its resolution 1244 (1999). The main objective of the UNMIK is to help ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants of Kosovo and advance regional stability in the Western Balkans. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General is the head of this mission, and enjoys civilian executive power as vested in him by the Security Council in resolution 1244 (1999). The Special Representative ensures a coordinated approach by the international civil presence operating under Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which retains the status of UNMIK pillar for institution building. Also, The priorities of the Mission remain to promote security, stability and respect for human rights in Kosovo and in the region. In furtherance of its goals, UNMIK continues its constructive engagement with Pristina and Belgrade, the communities in Kosovo and regional and international actors. (Source: UNMIK, United Nations Mission in Kosovo) Looking ahead, UNMIK will continue to enhance its support of the implementation of the agreements reached between Belgrade and Pristina. Strengthening formal and informal channels of communication among 23

24 authorities at all levels and between all communities in Kosovo is a critical objective for the coming period. The resources of UNMIK, as well as of international partners on the ground, will continue to be fully applied toward supporting and facilitating such efforts. b. Belgrade- Pristina Negotiations Belgrade Pristina dialogue is a series of EU-facilitated talks between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo. The talks take place in Brussels, Belgium and are mediated by the European Union represented by Robert Cooper. Borko Stefanovi leads the Belgrade negotiating team and Edita Tahiri leads the Pristina negotiating team. The talks began on 8 March 2011 and feature three main issues: Regional Body Freedom of movement Rule of law The negotiations have had seven rounds, and on these seven rounds, different topics have been discussed including freedom of movement, economic cooperation, air traffic, telecommunications, civil records, cultural heritage and education diplomas amongst other things. The seventh round was scheduled for 28 September 2011 (it was initially scheduled for 27 September, but was postponed shortly before due to a flare-up in violence). The Serb delegation refused to continue with the talks whilst Kosovo police and customs officials control border posts, which was not previously agreed and resulted in violence. The talks were then set for 14 October 2011, though only technical issues were planned to be discussed. c. Brussels Agreement (2013) The Brussels Agreement was made between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo on the normalization of their relations. It was negotiated and concluded, although not signed by either party, in Brussels under the auspices of the European Union. The negotiations were led by Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Da i and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, and mediated by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. The agreement was concluded on 19 April So far ten round of talks have been made at the European External Action Service, and, although there has been progress regarding the Serbia-Kosovo issue, relations are still difficult, as this year's campaign by Serbia to prevent UNESCO-membership of Kosovo showed. 24