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Chapter 4 a Contemporary Interpretation of the Principles of Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Self-Determination, and the Kosovo Conundrum

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Chapter 4 a Contemporary Interpretation of the Principles of Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Self-Determination, and the Kosovo Conundrum Chapter 4 A Contemporary Interpretation of the Principles of Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Self-Determination, and the Kosovo Conundrum BESFORT RRECAJ 1 Introduction Th is chapter discusses the place of Kosovo in between main principles of interna- tional law: self determination, on one hand, and sovereignty and territorial integrity, on the other. Discussing the Kosovo conundrum in between these principles, it tries to develop a case where the people of Kosovo would be eligible to use the right to self-determination and secede, as a last resort, from a state where their fundamental human rights and freedoms were denied persistently. Th is would give the right to the people of Kosovo to create an independent entity where they can exercise their fundamental human rights and freedoms. Th e chapter will approach legal, historical and political development of Kosovo from the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire up to its current status. Discussing these issues, the chapter will focus on the challenges to Kosovo after the declaration of independence and its struggle to enter into international relations. In the end it will give some basic data on and the prospects for the recognition pro- cess and the possibilities for Kosovo’s membership in international organizations. In particular, it will discuss the prospects of entering some of the most important international organizations for Kosovo; the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Union and NATO. 2 From the Ottoman Empire to the Dissolution of Yugoslavia Th e case of Kosovo and its fi nal status are closely related to the balance between the principle of self-determination and the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. In this historical overview of the position of Albanians within Yugoslavia, it is very important to explain the will and the right of Kosovo Albanian population to self-determination and statehood. Th e position of Kosovo Albanians (Albanians currently compose more than 90 of Kosovo population)1 since its incorporation Statistics after the Second World War show that population in Kosovo fl uctuated in margins but in general the Albanian population in Kosovo did not go below , with James Summers. (ed.), Kosovo: A Precedent? © Koninklijke Brill nv. Printed in Th e Netherlands. isbn 978 9004 17599 0. pp. 109-141. 110 II. Kosovo’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in 1919 and then in Communist Yugoslavia in 1945 has been of a continuous denial of the right to internal self-determination, with only 15 years between 1974-1989 of a somewhat better situation. Th e Kingdom of Yugoslavia was established as a State in 1919 with the help of the Great Powers, outside the scope of national self-determination advanced by Wood- row Wilson. Yugoslavia did not exist at any time in the history before that as a ter- ritory or nation. From the 15th century most of territories forming later Yugoslavia were occupied by the Ottoman Empire which defeated the Byzantine Empire. Th e Ottoman Empire at its height managed, in 16th century, to stretch shortly up to the backdoor of Vienna. However, during fi ve centuries of domination in the Balkans the Ottoman Empire mainly occupied territory encompassing what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia. Th ese territories would later be made part of the Kingdom of and subsequent communist federation of Yu- goslavia. Before that, the region was, since ancient times, inhabited by Illyrian tribes, the descendants of whom are today’s Albanians.2 People living in territories comprising Yugoslavia were distinguished by diff er- ent millets under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Th e millet was a term used in the Ottoman Empire to distinguish people based on their religion. Th e Ottoman Empire recognized Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish millets, each of them represented by their respective authorities with the Sultan representing Muslim mil- let. Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish millets were represented by Austria-Hungary, the Ecumenical Patriarch (with its center in Serbia and Greece) and Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) respectively.3 With regards to administrative division, by the mid 19th century, after political reforms in Ottoman Empire in 1864, there were diff erent ad- ministrative divisions called vilayetes (provinces) within the empire.4 In this admin- istrative division the Kosovo vilayet was created as an autonomous province within the Ottoman Empire which encompassed the territory of today’s Kosovo, part of western Macedonia, southern Serbia, northern Albania and southern Montenegro with its main seat in Shkup (today Skopje, capital of Macedonia) and later Prishtina the remaining comprising Serbs, Montenegrins, Roma etc. According to offi cial Yugoslav statistics, despite the expulsions of many Albanians between the two World Wars and the fi rst two decades after the Second World War, mostly to Turkey, the per- centage of Albanians increased, due to other groups leaving Kosovo for more prosper- ous opportunities in other republics. Th is was a feature common to other poor regions of Yugoslavia, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Another relevant factor was the higher birth rates among Albanians than others. See Noel Malcolm, Kosovo: A Short History (New York: New York University Press, ), - Ibid. -. For further reading on the Albanians and their history see Edwin Jacques, Shqiptarët: Historia e Popullit Shiqiptar Nga Lashtësia Në Ditët e Sotme (Tirana: Mc- Farlands and Company, Inc. Publishers, ). Skender Anamali & Kristaq Prifti, Historia e Popullit Shqiptar (Tirana, Albanian Acad- emy of Sciences and Arts, ), -. Noel Malcolm, note above, -. See also Liman Rushiti, Ndarja Territoriale Dhe Rregullimi Administrativ i Kosovës (Pristina: Institute of History, ), -.
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