http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7255400.stm#upup
Created out of the ashes of Austria-Hungary's defeat in WWI, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - changed to Yugoslavia in 1929 - was in theory a single autonomous state, but ethnic tensions were not far from the surface.
After invasion and a series of overlapping civil wars in WWII, a lid was kept on national aspirations by the creation of a federation of six nominally equal republics. In Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina were given autonomous status. But from 1991 Yugoslavia fell apart.
A series of splits saw the bloodiest fighting in Croatia and Bosnia. A peace deal created the self-governing Bosnian Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) and Muslim Croat Federation. Kosovo become a UN protectorate after inter-ethnic fighting and NATO bombardment in 1999. Serbian security forces were driven out of Kosovo in 1999 after a NATO bombing campaign aimed at halting the violent repression of ethnic Albanian separatists.
In 2003 Yugoslavia disappeared from the map of Europe. Replaced for a short time by the looser union of Serbia and Montenegro, the latter broke away in 2006. Two years later, Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians declared independence from Serbia.
The UN Security Council is divided over how to respond to Kosovo's move, and it has failed to agree on any action. Serbia insists it still has sovereignty of Kosovo under UN Security Council resolution 1244 of international law.
Britain, France, and Italy were among the first to recognise Kosovo's independence. Germany and Austria too have accepted Kosovo as an independent country. USA had earlier recognised Kosovo and declared it would soon establish diplomatic relations with it.
Kosovo's independence is likely to set a dangerous precedent for secessionist movements in Asia, Europe and beyond.
Created out of the ashes of Austria-Hungary's defeat in WWI, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - changed to Yugoslavia in 1929 - was in theory a single autonomous state, but ethnic tensions were not far from the surface.
After invasion and a series of overlapping civil wars in WWII, a lid was kept on national aspirations by the creation of a federation of six nominally equal republics. In Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina were given autonomous status. But from 1991 Yugoslavia fell apart.
A series of splits saw the bloodiest fighting in Croatia and Bosnia. A peace deal created the self-governing Bosnian Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) and Muslim Croat Federation. Kosovo become a UN protectorate after inter-ethnic fighting and NATO bombardment in 1999. Serbian security forces were driven out of Kosovo in 1999 after a NATO bombing campaign aimed at halting the violent repression of ethnic Albanian separatists.
In 2003 Yugoslavia disappeared from the map of Europe. Replaced for a short time by the looser union of Serbia and Montenegro, the latter broke away in 2006. Two years later, Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians declared independence from Serbia.
The UN Security Council is divided over how to respond to Kosovo's move, and it has failed to agree on any action. Serbia insists it still has sovereignty of Kosovo under UN Security Council resolution 1244 of international law.
Britain, France, and Italy were among the first to recognise Kosovo's independence. Germany and Austria too have accepted Kosovo as an independent country. USA had earlier recognised Kosovo and declared it would soon establish diplomatic relations with it.
Kosovo's independence is likely to set a dangerous precedent for secessionist movements in Asia, Europe and beyond.
1 comment:
The map totally rocks!
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