Editing Kosovo (section)

== History ==
{{For timeline|Timeline of Kosovo history}}
{{Main|History of Kosovo}}

=== Ancient history ===
{{See also|Archaeology of Kosovo|Copper, Bronze and Iron Age sites in Kosovo}}
{{Further|Illyrians|Dardania (Roman province)|l2=Dardania}}

The strategic position including the abundant natural resources were favourable for the development of human settlements in Kosovo, as is highlighted by the hundreds of archaeological sites identified throughout its territory.<ref name=SchermerShukriu>{{cite book |last1=Schermer |first1=Shirley |last2=Shukriu |first2=Edi |last3=Deskaj |first3=Sylvia |editor1-last=Marquez-Grant |editor1-first=Nicholas |editor2-last=Fibiger |editor2-first=Linda |title=The Routledge Handbook of Archaeological Human Remains and Legislation: An International Guide to Laws and Practice in the Excavation and Treatment of Archaeological Human Remains |date=2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-87956-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lzi4N-74QmAC |page=235 |access-date=20 September 2020 |archive-date=4 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204134209/https://books.google.com/books?id=Lzi4N-74QmAC |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Hyjnesha muze.jpg|thumb|Neolithic [[Goddess on the Throne]] is one of the most significant archaeological artefacts of Kosovo and has been adopted as the symbol of [[Pristina]].]]

Since 2000, the increase in archaeological expeditions has revealed many, previously unknown sites. The earliest documented traces in Kosovo are associated to the [[Stone Age]]; namely, indications that cave dwellings might have existed, such as Radivojce Cave near the source of the [[Drin River]], Grnčar Cave in [[Viti, Kosovo|Viti municipality]] and the Dema and Karamakaz Caves in the [[Peja|municipality of Peja]].

The earliest archaeological evidence of organised settlement, which have been found in Kosovo, belong to the [[Neolithic]] [[Starčevo culture|Starčevo]] and [[Vinča culture|Vinča]] cultures.<ref name="Berisha">{{cite web |last=Berisha |first=Milot |title=Archaeological Guide of Kosovo |url=https://www.mkrs-ks.org/repository/docs/drafti_i_guides_-anglisht_final.pdf |year=2012 |publisher=Ministry of Culture of Kosovo |pages=17–18 |access-date=20 September 2020 |archive-date=17 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417092446/https://www.mkrs-ks.org/repository/docs/drafti_i_guides_-anglisht_final.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Vlashnjë]] and [[Runik]] are important sites of the [[Neolithic sites in Kosovo|Neolithic era]] with the rock art paintings at Mrrizi i Kobajës near [[Vlashnjë]] being the first find of prehistoric art in Kosovo.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shukriu |first1=Edi |author-link1=Edi Shukriu |title=Spirals of the prehistoric open rock painting from Kosova |journal=Proceedings of the XV World Congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences |date=2006 |volume=35 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1787676 |page=59 |access-date=20 September 2020 |archive-date=14 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914015031/https://www.academia.edu/1787676 |url-status=live}}</ref> Amongst the finds of excavations in Neolithic Runik is a baked-clay [[ocarina]], which is the first musical instrument recorded in Kosovo.<ref name="Berisha"/>

[[File:Dardanian Kingdom (late 3rd century BC).png|left|thumb|[[Kingdom of Dardania]] in the 3rd century BCE.]]

The first archaeological expedition in Kosovo was organised by the Austro-Hungarian army during [[World War I]] in the [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] [[tumuli]] burial grounds of Nepërbishti within the [[district of Prizren]].<ref name=SchermerShukriu/>

The beginning of the [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]] coincides with the presence of [[tumuli]] burial grounds in western Kosovo, like the site of [[Romajë]].<ref name="SchermerShukriu"/>

The [[Dardani]] were the most important [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] tribe in the region of Kosovo. A wide area which consists of Kosovo, parts of Northern Macedonia and eastern Serbia was named [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardania]] after them in classical antiquity, reaching to the [[Thraco-Illyrian]] contact zone in the east. In archaeological research, Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania, while Thracian names are mostly found in eastern Dardania.

Thracian names are absent in western Dardania, while some Illyrian names appear in the eastern parts. Thus, their identification as either an [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] or [[Thracian]] tribe has been a subject of debate, the ethnolinguistic relationship between the two groups being largely uncertain and debated itself as well. The correspondence of Illyrian names, including those of the ruling elite, in Dardania with those of the southern Illyrians suggests a thracianisation of parts of Dardania.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilkes|first=John|title=The Illyrians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Nv6SPRKqs8C|year=1996|orig-date=1992|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-631-19807-9|page=85|access-date=20 September 2020|archive-date=2 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502085653/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Nv6SPRKqs8C|url-status=live}}</ref> The Dardani retained an individuality and continued to maintain social independence after Roman conquest, playing an important role in the formation of new groupings in the Roman era.<ref name="Papazoglou">{{Cite book|last=Papazoglu|first=Fanula|author-link=Fanula Papazoglu|title=The Central Balkan Tribes in pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians|year=1978|location=Amsterdam|publisher=Hakkert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Up4JAQAAIAAJ|page=131|isbn=978-90-256-0793-7|access-date=27 September 2020|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411011011/https://books.google.com/books?id=Up4JAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Roman period ====
{{See also|Roman heritage in Kosovo}}

During Roman rule, Kosovo was part of two provinces, with its western part being part of [[Praevalitana]], and the vast majority of its modern territory belonging to [[Dardania (Roman province)|Dardania]]. Praevalitana and the rest of Illyria was conquered by the [[Roman Republic]] in 168 BC. On the other hand, Dardania maintained its independence until the year 28 BC, when the Romans, under [[Augustus]], annexed it into their Republic.<ref>{{cite book|last=Errington|first=Robert Malcolm|author-link=Robert Malcolm Errington|title=A History of Macedonia |location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press|year=1990|translator=Catherine Errington|isbn=978-0-520-06319-8|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PYgkqP_s1PQC |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PYgkqP_s1PQC&pg=PA185 185]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9OIvQEACAAJ |title=A History of Macedonia: 336-167 B.C. |last=Hammond |first=N.G.L. |date=1988 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=0-19-814815-1 |page=253 }}</ref> Dardania eventually became a part of the [[Moesia]] province.<ref>{{cite book|title=Starinar|volume=45–47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYxpAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Arheološki institut|page=33}}</ref> During the reign of [[Diocletian]], Dardania became a full [[Dardania (Roman province)|Roman province]] and the entirety of Kosovo's modern territory became a part of the [[Diocese of Moesia]], and then during the second half of the 4th century, it became part of the [[Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Roisman|first=Joseph|chapter=Classical Macedonia to Perdiccas III|title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|pages=145–165|location=Oxford|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4051-7936-2|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/AncientMacedonia/Ancient%20Macedonia#page/n401/mode/2up| editor-given1 = Joseph | editor-surname1 = Roisman| editor-given2 = Ian | editor-surname2 = Worthington}}</ref>{{rp|548
}}
[[File:ULPIANA foto Arben Llapashtica 2016.jpg|thumb|Ruins of Ancient [[Ulpiana]] situated southeast of [[Pristina]]. The city, built by [[Trajan]], was an important political, cultural, and financial centre of the Roman province of Dardania]]

During Roman rule, a series of settlements developed in the area, mainly close to mines and to the major roads. The most important of the settlements was [[Ulpiana]],{{sfn|Teichner|2015|p=81}} which is located near modern-day [[Gračanica, Kosovo|Gračanica]]. It was established in the 1st century AD, possibly developing from a concentrated [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardanian]] [[oppidum]], and then was upgraded to the status of a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[municipium]] at the beginning of the 2nd century during the rule of [[Trajan]].<ref name="Anschnitt1">{{cite journal |title=Römischer Erzbergbau im Umfeld der antiken Stadt Ulpiana bei Pristina (Kosovo) |journal=Der Anschnitt |year=2011 |last1=Gassmann |first1=Guntram |last2=Körlin |first2=Gabriele |last3=Klein |first3=Sabine |volume=63 |pages=157–167 |url=https://www.bergbaumuseum.de/fileadmin/files/zoo/uploads/publikationen/gassmann2011-kosovo.pdf |access-date=2023-08-18 |archive-date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214103414/https://www.bergbaumuseum.de/fileadmin/files/zoo/uploads/publikationen/gassmann2011-kosovo.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hoxhaj1">{{cite journal |title=Die frühchristliche dardanische Stadt Ulpiana und ihr Verhältnis zu Rom |journal=Dardanica |year=1999 |last=Hoxhaj |first=Enver |volume=8 |pages=21–33}}</ref> Ulpiana became especially important during the rule of [[Justinian I]], after the Emperor rebuilt the city after it had been destroyed by an earthquake and renamed it to ''Iustinianna Secunda''.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/1585643|title=Archaeological Guide of Kosovo|first=Milot|last=Berisha|access-date=5 December 2021|website=Academia.edu|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427143514/https://www.academia.edu/1585643|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Teichner|2015|p=83}}

Other important towns that developed in the area during Roman rule were [[Vendenis]], located in modern-day [[Podujevë]]; [[Viciano]], possibly near [[Vushtrri]]; and [[Municipium Dardanorum]], an important mining town in [[Leposavić]]. Other archeological sites include [[Çifllak]] in Western Kosovo, [[Archaeological Site of Dresnik|Dresnik]] in [[Klina]], [[Pestova (archaeological site)|Pestova]] in Vushtrri, [[Kllokot-Vërban (archaeological site)|Vërban]] in [[Klokot]], [[Poslishte (archaeological site)|Poslishte]] between [[Vërmica]] and [[Prizren]], [[Paldenica]] near [[Hani i Elezit]], as well as [[Nerodimë e Poshtme]] and [[Nikadin]] near [[Ferizaj]]. The one thing all the settlements have in common is that they are located either near roads, such as Via [[Lissus (Illyria)|Lissus]]-[[Naissus]], or near the mines of [[North Kosovo]] and eastern Kosovo. Most of the settlements are archaeological sites that have been discovered recently and are being excavated.

It is also known that the region was Christianised during Roman rule, though little is known regarding Christianity in the Balkans in the three first centuries AD.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harnack|first=Adolf|title=The Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries|volume=1–2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FltKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|year=1998|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-57910-002-5 |page=371}}</ref> The first clear mention of Christians in literature is the case of Bishop Dacus of Macedonia, from Dardania, who was present at the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325).{{sfn|Harnack|1998|p=80}} It is also known that Dardania had a [[Diocese]] in the 4th century, and its seat was placed in Ulpiana, which remained the [[diocese|episcopal]] centre of Dardania until the establishment of [[Justiniana Prima]] in 535 AD.<ref name="CetinkayaExcavate">{{cite journal |last1=Çetinkaya |first1=Halûk |title=To Excavate or not? Case of Discovery of an Early Christian Baptistery and Church at Ulpiana, Kosovo |journal=Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art |url=https://actual-art.org/files/sb/06/Cetinkaya.pdf |volume=6 |editor-last=Zakharova |editor-first=Anna |editor2-last=Maltseva |editor2-first=Svetlana |editor3-last=Stanyukovich-Denisova |editor3-first=Ekaterina |location=Saint Petersburg |publisher=NP-Print Publ. |year=2016 |pages=111–118 |doi=10.18688/aa166-2-11 |access-date=2023-08-18 |archive-date=10 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310094626/https://actual-art.org/files/sb/06/Cetinkaya.pdf |url-status=live | issn = 2312-2129 }}</ref><ref name="Hoxhaj1" /> The first known bishop of Ulpiana is Machedonius, who was a member of the council of [[Serdika]]. Other known bishops were Paulus ([[synod]] of [[Constantinople]] in 553 AD), and Gregentius, who was sent by [[Justin I]] to [[Ethiopia]] and [[Yemen]] to ease problems among different Christian groups there.<ref name="CetinkayaExcavate" />

=== Middle Ages ===

In the next centuries, Kosovo was a frontier province of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]], and later of the [[Byzantine Empire]], and as a result it changed hands frequently. The region was exposed to an increasing number of raids from the 4th century CE onward, culminating with the [[Slavic migrations]] of the 6th and 7th centuries. Toponymic evidence suggests that [[Albanian language|Albanian]] was probably spoken in Kosovo prior to the Slavic settlement of the region.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Curtis |first=Matthew Cowan |title=Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence |url=http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1338406907 |publisher=The Ohio State University |year=2012 |page=42 |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=30 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930143737/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/etd/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=osu1338406907 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Prendergast2017">{{cite thesis|last1=Prendergast|first1=Eric|year=2017|title=The Origin and Spread of Locative Determiner Omission in the Balkan Linguistic Area|page=80|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7nk454x6|publisher=UC Berkeley|access-date=7 June 2022|archive-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512011446/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7nk454x6|url-status=live}}</ref> The overwhelming presence of towns and municipalities in Kosovo with Slavic in their toponymy suggests that the Slavic migrations either assimilated or drove out population groups already living in Kosovo.<ref>{{cite conference |first=Thomas |last=Kingsley |title=Albanian Onomastics Using Toponymic Correspondences to Understand the History of Albanian Settlement |conference=6th Annual Linguistics Conference at the University of Georgia |pages=110–151 |date=2019 |location=United States |url=https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/conferencePaper/Albanian-Onomastics-Using-Toponymic-Correspondences-to/9949423226902959?institution=01GALI_UGA |access-date=23 January 2023 |archive-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127220138/https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/conferencePaper/Albanian-Onomastics-Using-Toponymic-Correspondences-to/9949423226902959?institution=01GALI_UGA |url-status=live }}</ref>

There is one intriguing line of argument to suggest that the Slav presence in Kosovo and southernmost part of the Morava valley may have been quite weak in the first one or two centuries of Slav settlement. Only in the ninth century can the expansion of a strong Slav (or quasi-Slav) power into this region be observed. Under a series of ambitious rulers, the Bulgarians pushed westwards across modern Macedonia and eastern Serbia, until by the 850's they had taken over Kosovo and were pressing on the border of [[Principality of Serbia (early medieval)|Serbian Principality]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_FMZQQAACAAJ&q=kosovo+a+short+history |title=Kosovo: A Short History |isbn=978-0-330-41224-7 |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=11 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111130647/https://books.google.no/books?id=_FMZQQAACAAJ&dq=kosovo+a+short+history&hl=no&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj5z4PbjI_uAhWIuIsKHamyB90Q6AEwAHoECAAQAg |url-status=live |last1=Malcolm |first1=Noel |year=2002}}</ref>

The [[First Bulgarian Empire]] acquired Kosovo by the mid-9th century, but Byzantine control was [[Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria|restored]] by the late 10th century. In 1072, the leaders of the Bulgarian [[Uprising of Georgi Voiteh]] traveled from their centre in [[Skopje]] to Prizren and held a meeting in which they invited [[Mihailo Vojislavljević]] of [[Duklja]] to send them assistance. Mihailo sent his son, [[Constantine Bodin]] with 300 of his soldiers. After they met, the Bulgarian magnates proclaimed him "Emperor of the Bulgarians".<ref>{{cite book |last1=McGeer |first1=Eric |title=Byzantium in the Time of Troubles: The Continuation of the Chronicle of John Skylitzes (1057–1079) |date=2019 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-41940-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmjIDwAAQBAJ |page=149 |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426180211/https://books.google.com/books?id=CmjIDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Demetrios Chomatenos]] is the last Byzantine archbishop of [[Ohrid]] to include Prizren in his jurisdiction until 1219.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prinzing |first1=Günter |title=Demetrii Chomateni Ponemata diaphora: [Das Aktencorpus des Ohrider Erzbischofs Demetrios. Einleitung, kritischer Text und Indices] |date=2008 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-020450-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vllZG5zOxmMC |chapter=Demetrios Chomatenos, Zu seinem Leben und Wirken |page=30 |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805223703/https://books.google.com/books?id=vllZG5zOxmMC |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Stefan Nemanja]] had seized the area along the [[White Drin]] in 1185 to 1195 and the ecclesiastical split of Prizren from the Patriarchate in 1219 was the final act of establishing [[Nemanjić]] rule. [[Konstantin Jireček]] concluded, from the correspondence of archbishop Demetrios of Ohrid from 1216 to 1236, that Dardania was increasingly populated by Albanians and the expansion started from [[Gjakova]] and [[Prizren]] area, prior to the Slavic expansion.<ref name="Abulafia1999">{{cite book|last=Ducellier|first=Alain|title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 5, c.1198-c.1300|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bclfdU_2lesC&pg=PA781|access-date=21 November 2012|date=1999-10-21|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-36289-4|page=780|archive-date=3 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103143439/http://books.google.com/books?id=bclfdU_2lesC&pg=PA781|url-status=live}}</ref>
 	
[[File:Gracanica 1.jpg|thumb|[[Gračanica Monastery]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]
[[File:Manastir Visoki Dečani (Манастир Високи Дечани) - by Pudelek..jpg|thumb|[[Visoki Dečani Monastery]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]

During the 13th and 14th centuries, Kosovo was a political, cultural and religious centre of the [[Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)|Serbian Kingdom]].<ref name="Sharpe 2003 364"/> In the late 13th century, the seat of the [[Serbian Orthodox Church|Serbian Archbishopric]] was moved to [[Peja]], and rulers centred themselves between [[Prizren]] and [[Skopje]],<ref>Denis P Hupchik. The Balkans. From Constantinople to Communism. p. 93 "Dusan.. established his new state primate's seat at Peć (Ipek), in Kosovo"</ref> during which time thousands of Christian monasteries and feudal-style forts and castles were erected,<ref>Bieber, p. 12</ref> with [[Stefan Dušan]] using [[Prizren Fortress]] as one of his temporary courts for a time. When the Serbian Empire fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities in 1371, Kosovo became the hereditary land of the [[House of Branković]].<ref name="Sharpe 2003 364">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jLfX1q3kJzgC |title=Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-Century Central-Eastern Europe |page=364 |last=Sharpe |first=M. E. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803211910/https://books.google.rs/books?id=jLfX1q3kJzgC&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=3 August 2017 |isbn=978-0-7656-1833-7 |year=2003|publisher=M.E. Sharpe }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=RFE/RL Research Report: Weekly Analyses from the RFE/RL Research Institute, Том 3 |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}</ref> During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, parts of Kosovo, the easternmost area located near Pristina, were part of the [[Principality of Dukagjini]], which was later incorporated into an anti-Ottoman federation of all Albanian principalities, the [[League of Lezhë]].<ref name="Sellers2010">{{cite book|last=Sellers|first=Mortimer|title=The Rule of Law in Comparative Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Rx7_KyUp7cC&pg=PA207|access-date=2 February 2011|year=2010|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-90-481-3748-0|page=207|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511193103/https://books.google.com/books?id=9Rx7_KyUp7cC&pg=PA207|archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref>

[[Medieval Monuments in Kosovo]] is a combined [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] consisting of four [[Serbian Orthodox]] churches and [[List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries|monasteries]] in [[Deçan]], [[Peja]], [[Prizren]] and [[Gračanica, Kosovo|Gračanica]]. The constructions were founded by members of the [[Nemanjić dynasty]], a prominent dynasty of [[Serbia in the Middle Ages|mediaeval Serbia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/724 |title=Medieval Monuments in Kosovo |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=7 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513120313/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/724/ |archive-date=13 May 2015}}</ref>

==== Ottoman rule ====
{{Main|History of Ottoman Kosovo}}
{{See also|Battle of Kosovo|Vilayet of Kosovo}}

[[File:Xhamia_e_Madhe_Prishtine.JPG|upright=0.85|thumb|The [[Imperial Mosque (Pristina)|Imperial Mosque of Pristina]] built by [[Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror]], 1461]]

In 1389, as the [[Ottoman Empire]] expanded northwards through the Balkans, Ottoman forces under Sultan [[Murad I]] met with a Christian coalition led by [[Moravian Serbia]] under [[Prince Lazar]] in the [[Battle of Kosovo]]. Both sides suffered heavy losses and the battle was a stalemate and it was even reported as a Christian victory at first, but Serbian manpower was depleted and ''de facto'' Serbian rulers could not raise another equal force to the Ottoman army.<ref name="Jelavich1983">{{cite book|author=Barbara Jelavich|title=History of the Balkans|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbalkans0000jela|url-access=registration|year=1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-27458-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofbalkans0000jela/page/31 31]–}}</ref><ref name="prospect-magazine.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/thebattleofkosovo/#axzz3eyNaDTl6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531075927/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/thebattleofkosovo/ |archive-date=31 May 2012 |title= Essays: 'The battle of Kosovo' by Noel Malcolm, Prospect Magazine May 1998 issue 30 |publisher=Prospect-magazine.co.uk |access-date=20 July 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Humphreys46a2">{{harvnb|Humphreys|2013|p=46|ps=: "Both armies – and this is a fact that is ignored by the hagiographic telling – contained soldiers of various origins; Bosnians, Albanians, Hungarians, Greeks, Bulgars, perhaps even Catalans (on the Ottoman side)."}}</ref><ref name="Somel 2010 p. 36">{{cite book |last=Somel |first=S.A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UU8iCY0OZmcC&pg=PA36 |title=The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4617-3176-4 |series=The A to Z Guide Series |page=36 |quote="The coalition consisted of Serbians, Bosnians, Croatians, Hungarians, Wallachians, Bulgarians, and Albanians." |access-date=10 May 2024 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128152103/https://books.google.com/books?id=UU8iCY0OZmcC&pg=PA36 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Different parts of Kosovo were ruled directly or indirectly by the Ottomans in this early period. The medieval town of [[Novo Brdo]] was under Lazar's son, [[Stefan Lazarević|Stefan]] who became a loyal Ottoman vassal and instigated the downfall of [[Vuk Branković]] who eventually joined the Hungarian anti-Ottoman coalition and was defeated in 1395–96. A small part of Vuk's land with the villages of Pristina and Vushtrri was given to his sons to hold as Ottoman vassals for a brief period.<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|1994|pp=409–415}}</ref>

By 1455–57, the Ottoman Empire assumed direct control of all of Kosovo and the region remained part of the empire until 1912. During this period, [[Islam]] was introduced to the region. After the failed [[Battle of Vienna|siege of Vienna]] by the Ottoman forces in 1693 during the [[Great Turkish War]], a number of Serbs that lived in Kosovo, Macedonia and south Serbia migrated northwards near the Danube and Sava rivers, and is one of the events known as the [[Great Migrations of the Serbs|great migrations of the Serbs]] which also included some Christian Albanians.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Warrander |first1=Gail |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCRjKdrmqqEC |title=Kosovo |last2=Knaus |first2=Verena |date=2007 |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |isbn=978-1-84162-199-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Casiday |first=Augustine |title=The Orthodox Christian World |url=https://rifdt.instifdt.bg.ac.rs/bitstream/handle/123456789/1932/Cvetkovic%20-%20Serbian%20Tradition.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |page=135 |year=2012 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=16 September 2023 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121151335/https://rifdt.instifdt.bg.ac.rs/bitstream/handle/123456789/1932/Cvetkovic%20-%20Serbian%20Tradition.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rama2019">{{cite book |author=Shinasi A. Rama |title=Nation Failure, Ethnic Elites, and Balance of Power: The International Administration of Kosova |publisher=Springer |year=2019 |page=64}}</ref> The Albanians and Serbs who stayed in Kosovo after the war faced waves of Ottoman and Tatar forces, who unleashed a savage retaliation on the local population.<ref name=":5" /> To compensate for the population loss, the Turks encouraged settlement of non-Slav Muslim Albanians in the wider region of Kosovo.<ref>• Cohen, Paul A. (2014). ''[https://books.google.de/books?id=DcfbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false History and Popular Memory: The Power of Story in Moments of Crisis]''. Columbia University Press. pp. 8–9. {{ISBN|978-0-231-53729-2}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20211130180358/https://books.google.com/books?id=DcfbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 Archived] from the original on 30 November 2021.

• J. Everett-Heath (1 August 2000). ''Place Names of the World – Europe: Historical Context, Meanings and Changes''. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 365. {{ISBN|978-0-230-28673-3}}. Archived from [https://web.archive.org/web/20230930143730/https://books.google.com/books?id=uK2HDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA373#v=onepage&q&f=false the original] on 30 September 2023. 

• Geniş, Şerife, and Kelly Lynne Maynard (2009). [https://archive.today/20160507022158/http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00263200903009619 Formation of a diasporic community: The history of migration and resettlement of Muslim Albanians in the Black Sea Region of Turkey]." ''Middle Eastern Studies''. '''45'''. (4): 556–557.

• Lampe, John R.; Lampe, Professor John R. (2000). ''[https://books.google.de/books?id=AZ1x7gvwx_8C&q=A&pg=PA27&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=A&f=false Yugoslavia as History: Twice There Was a Country]''. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. {{ISBN|978-0-521-77401-7}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230930144241/https://books.google.com/books?id=AZ1x7gvwx_8C&q=A&pg=PA27#v=snippet&q=A&f=false Archived] from the original on 30 September 2023. <q>The first Ottoman encouragement of Albanian migration did follow the Serb exodus of 1690</q>

• Anscombe, Frederick F 2006 – <nowiki>http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/577/1/Binder2.pdf</nowiki> [https://web.archive.org/web/20110514093015/http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/577/1/Binder2.pdf Archived] 14 May 2011 at the [[Wayback Machine]] </ref> By the end of the 18th century, Kosovo would reattain an Albanian majority – with Peja, Prizren, Prishtina becoming especially important towns for the local Muslim population.<ref>• Cohen, Paul A. (2014). ''History and Popular Memory: The Power of Story in Moments of Crisis''. Columbia University Press. pp. 8–9. {{ISBN|978-0-231-53729-2}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20211130180358/https://books.google.com/books?id=DcfbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 Archived] from the original on 30 November 2021.

• Lampe, John R.; Lampe, Professor John R. (2000). ''Yugoslavia as History: Twice There Was a Country''. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. {{ISBN|978-0-521-77401-7}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230930144241/https://books.google.com/books?id=AZ1x7gvwx_8C&q=A&pg=PA27#v=snippet&q=A&f=false Archived] from the original on 30 September 2023. <q>The first Ottoman encouragement of Albanian migration did follow the Serb exodus of 1690</q>

• Malcolm, Noel (10 July 2020). ''Noel Malcolm 2020 p . 135''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-259922-3}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230930144243/https://books.google.com/books?id=0FXwDwAAQBAJ Archived] from the original on 30 September 2023.

• Rebels, Believers, Survivors: Studies in the history of the Albanians – Malcolm 2020 p. 132-133/p

• Rebels, Believers, Survivors: Studies in the history of the Albanians – Malcolm 2020 p. 143/p</ref>

Although initially stout opponents of the advancing Turks, Albanian chiefs ultimately came to accept the Ottomans as sovereigns. The resulting alliance facilitated the mass conversion of Albanians to Islam. Given that the Ottoman Empire's subjects were divided along religious (rather than ethnic) lines, the spread of Islam greatly elevated the status of Albanian chiefs. Centuries earlier, Albanians of Kosovo were predominantly Christian and Albanians and Serbs for the most part co-existed peacefully. The Ottomans appeared to have a more deliberate approach to converting the Roman Catholic population who were mostly Albanians in comparison with the mostly Serbian adherents of Eastern Orthodoxy, as they viewed the former less favourably due to its allegiance to Rome, a competing regional power.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Paul A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DcfbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |title=History and Popular Memory: The Power of Story in Moments of Crisis |date=2014 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-53729-2 |pages=8–9 |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130180358/https://books.google.com/books?id=DcfbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |archive-date=30 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Rise of nationalism ====

[[File:Qendra historike e Prizrenitaa.jpg|thumb|right|The city of [[Prizren]] was the cultural and intellectual centre of Kosovo during the Ottoman period in the Middle Ages and is now the historic capital of Kosovo.]]

In the 19th century, there was an [[Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire|awakening]] of [[ethnic nationalism]] throughout the Balkans. The underlying ethnic tensions became part of a broader struggle of Christian Serbs against Muslim Albanians.<ref name="prospect-magazine.co.uk"/> The ethnic [[National Renaissance of Albania|Albanian nationalism]] movement was centred in Kosovo. In 1878 the [[League of Prizren]] ({{lang|sq|Lidhja e Prizrenit}}) was formed, a political organisation that sought to unify all the Albanians of the Ottoman Empire in a common struggle for autonomy and greater cultural rights,<ref>''Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know'' by Tim Judah, Publisher [[Oxford University Press]], US, 2008 {{ISBN|0-19-537673-0|978-0-19-537673-9}} p. 36</ref> although they generally desired the continuation of the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="Cirkovic. p. 244">Cirkovic. p. 244.</ref> The League was dis-established in 1881 but enabled the awakening of a [[nation|national identity]] among Albanians,<ref>George Gawlrych, ''The Crescent and the Eagle,'' (Palgrave/Macmillan, London, 2006), {{ISBN|1-84511-287-3}}</ref> whose ambitions competed with those of the Serbs, the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] wishing to incorporate this land that had formerly been within its empire.

The modern Albanian-Serbian conflict has its roots in the [[Expulsion of the Albanians 1877–1878|expulsion of the Albanians in 1877–1878]] from areas that became incorporated into the [[Principality of Serbia]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Frantz|first=Eva Anne |title= Violence and its Impact on Loyalty and Identity Formation in Late Ottoman Kosovo: Muslims and Christians in a Period of Reform and Transformation |journal= Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |volume=29 |issue=4 |year=2009 |pages=460–461 |doi=10.1080/13602000903411366|s2cid=143499467}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Müller|first=Dietmar|title=Orientalism and Nation: Jews and Muslims as Alterity in Southeastern Europe in the Age of Nation-States, 1878–1941|journal=East Central Europe|volume=36|issue=1|year=2009|page=70|doi=10.1163/187633009x411485}}</ref> During and after the [[Serbian–Ottoman War (1876–78)|Serbian–Ottoman War of 1876–78]], between 30,000 and 70,000 Muslims, mostly Albanians, were expelled by the [[Armed forces of the Principality of Serbia|Serb army]] from the [[Sanjak of Niš]] and fled to the [[Kosovo Vilayet]].<ref>Pllana, Emin (1985). "Les raisons de la manière de l'exode des refugies albanais du territoire du sandjak de Nish a Kosove (1878–1878) [The reasons for the manner of the exodus of Albanian refugees from the territory of the Sanjak of Niš to Kosovo (1878–1878)] ". ''Studia Albanica''. '''1''': 189–190.</ref><ref>Rizaj, Skënder (1981). "Nënte Dokumente angleze mbi Lidhjen Shqiptare të Prizrenit (1878–1880) [Nine English documents about the League of Prizren (1878–1880)]". ''Gjurmine Albanologjike (Seria e Shkencave Historike)''. '''10''': 198.</ref><ref>Şimşir, Bilal N, (1968). ''Rumeli'den Türk göçleri. Emigrations turques des Balkans [Turkish emigrations from the Balkans]''. Vol I. Belgeler-Documents. p. 737.</ref><ref name=Batakovic1992>{{cite book|last=Bataković|first=Dušan|title=The Kosovo Chronicles|year=1992|publisher=Plato|url=http://www.rastko.rs/kosovo/istorija/kosovo_chronicles/kc_part2b.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226174611/http://www.rastko.rs/kosovo/istorija/kosovo_chronicles/kc_part2b.html|archive-date=26 December 2016}}</ref><ref name=Elsie2010>{{cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|title=Historical Dictionary of Kosovo|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-333-66612-8|page=xxxii}}</ref><ref>Stefanović, Djordje (2005). "Seeing the Albanians through Serbian eyes: The Inventors of the Tradition of Intolerance and their Critics, 1804–1939." ''European History Quarterly''. '''35'''. (3): 470.</ref> According to Austrian data, by the 1890s Kosovo was 70% Muslim (nearly entirely of Albanian descent) and less than 30% non-Muslim (primarily Serbs).<ref name="Cohen" /> In May 1901, Albanians pillaged and partially burned the cities of [[Novi Pazar]], [[Sjenica]] and Pristina, and [[Violence against Serbs during the late Ottoman era|killed many Serbs]] near Pristina and in Kolašin (now North Kosovo).<ref name=King-Mason-30>{{cite book|author1=Iain King|author2=Whit Mason|title=Peace at Any Price: How the World Failed Kosovo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9m3Hp2OevdUC&pg=PA30|year=2006|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-4539-2|page=30|access-date=7 October 2018|archive-date=9 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109150705/https://books.google.com/books?id=9m3Hp2OevdUC&pg=PA30|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Skendi |first1=Stavro |title=The Albanian National Awakening |date=2015 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4776-1 |page=201 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8QPWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 |access-date=28 July 2021 |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728220204/https://books.google.com/books?id=8QPWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Serbia1913.png|thumb|left| Division of [[Kosovo vilayet]] between the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] (''yellow'') and the [[Kingdom of Montenegro]] (''green'') following the [[Balkan Wars]] 1913.]]
In the spring of 1912, Albanians under the lead of [[Hasan Prishtina]] [[Albanian revolt of 1912|revolted]] against the Ottoman Empire. The rebels were joined by a wave of Albanians in the [[Ottoman army]] ranks, who deserted the army, refusing to fight their own kin. The rebels defeated the Ottomans and the latter were forced to accept all fourteen demands of the rebels, which foresaw an effective autonomy for the Albanians living in the Empire.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=246-248}} However, this autonomy never materialised, and the revolt created serious weaknesses in the Ottoman ranks, luring [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegro]], [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], and [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] into declaring war on the Ottoman Empire and starting the [[First Balkan War]].

After the Ottomans' defeat in the [[First Balkan War]], the [[Treaty of London (1913)|1913 Treaty of London]] was signed with Metohija ceded to the [[Kingdom of Montenegro]] and eastern Kosovo ceded to the [[Kingdom of Serbia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/boshtml/bos145.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970501052336/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/boshtml/bos145.htm|archive-date=1 May 1997 |title=Treaty of London, 1913 |publisher=Mtholyoke.edu |access-date=6 November 2011}}</ref> During the [[Balkan Wars]], over 100,000 Albanians left Kosovo and about 50,000 were killed in the [[Massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars|massacres]] that accompanied the war.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Malcolm|first=Noel|date=1999|title=Kosovo – A Short History|journal=Verfassung in Recht und Übersee|volume=32|issue=3|pages=422–423|doi=10.5771/0506-7286-1999-3-422|issn=0506-7286|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Aggression Against Yugoslavia Correspondence |date=2000 |publisher=Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade |isbn=978-86-80763-91-0 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cEEmAQAAIAAJ&q=freundlich |access-date=29 April 2020 |language=en |archive-date=30 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930144245/https://books.google.com/books?id=cEEmAQAAIAAJ&q=freundlich |url-status=live }}</ref> Soon, there were concerted [[Yugoslav colonization of Kosovo|Serbian colonisation efforts]] in Kosovo during various periods between Serbia's 1912 takeover of the province and [[World War&nbsp;II]], causing the population of Serbs in Kosovo to grow by about 58,000 in this period.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=279}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pavlović|first=Aleksandar|title=Prostorni raspored Srba i Crnogoraca kolonizovanih na Kosovo i Metohiju u periodu između 1918. i 1941. godine|url=http://scindeks-clanci.nb.rs/data/pdf/0353-9008/2008/0353-90080824231P.pdf|journal=Baština|volume=24|year=2008|page=235|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826204541/http://scindeks-clanci.nb.rs/data/pdf/0353-9008/2008/0353-90080824231P.pdf|archive-date=26 August 2011}}</ref>

Serbian authorities promoted creating new Serb settlements in Kosovo as well as the assimilation of Albanians into Serbian society, causing a mass exodus of Albanians from Kosovo.<ref name = "Schabnel 2001 20">Schabnel, Albrecht; Thakur, Ramesh (eds). Kosovo and the Challenge of Humanitarian Intervention: Selective Indignation, [[Collective action]], and International Citizenship. New York: The United Nations University, 2001. p. 20.</ref> The figures of Albanians forcefully expelled from Kosovo range between 60,000 and 239,807, while Malcolm mentions 100,000–120,000. In combination with the politics of extermination and expulsion, there was also a process of assimilation through religious conversion of Albanian Muslims and Albanian Catholics into the Serbian Orthodox religion which took place as early as 1912. These politics seem to have been inspired by the nationalist ideologies of [[Ilija Garašanin]] and [[Jovan Cvijić]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=I. Mehmeti |first1=Leandrit |last2=Radeljic |first2=Branislav |title=Kosovo and Serbia: Contested Options and Shared Consequences |date=24 March 2017 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |location=Pittsburgh |pages=63–64 |isbn=978-0-8229-4469-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWMqDwAAQBAJ |access-date=8 December 2021 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307171432/https://books.google.com/books?id=IWMqDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the winter of 1915–16, during [[World War I]], Kosovo saw the retreat of the Serbian army as Kosovo was occupied by [[Bulgaria]] and [[Austria-Hungary]]. In 1918, the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] pushed the [[Central Powers]] out of Kosovo.
 	
[[File:Germans in Kosovska Mitrovica.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|German soldiers set fire to a Serbian village near [[Mitrovica, Kosovo|Mitrovica]], circa 1941]]

A new administration system since 26 April 1922 split Kosovo among three districts ([[oblast]]) of the Kingdom: Kosovo, Raška and Zeta. In 1929, the country was transformed into the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] and the territories of Kosovo were reorganised among the [[Zeta Banovina|Banate of Zeta]], the [[Morava Banovina|Banate of Morava]] and the [[Banate of Vardar]]. In order to change the [[Demographics of Kosovo|ethnic composition of Kosovo]], between 1912 and 1941 a [[Colonisation of Kosovo|large-scale Serbian colonisation of Kosovo]] was undertaken by the Belgrade government. Kosovar Albanians' right to receive education in their own language [[Persecution of Albanians in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia|was denied]] alongside other non-Slavic or unrecognised Slavic nations of Yugoslavia, as the kingdom only recognised the Slavic Croat, Serb, and Slovene nations as constituent nations of Yugoslavia. Other Slavs had to identify as one of the three official Slavic nations and non-Slav nations deemed as minorities.<ref name = "Schabnel 2001 20"/>

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.<ref name="daskalovski">Daskalovski, Židas. Claims to Kosovo: Nationalism and [[Self-determination]]. In: Florian Bieber & Zidas Daskalovski (eds.), ''Understanding the War in Kosovo''. L.: Frank Cass, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7146-5391-8}}. pp. 13–30.</ref>{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=}} In 1935 and 1938, two agreements between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Turkey were signed on the expatriation of 240,000 Albanians to Turkey, but the expatriation did not occur due to the outbreak of [[World War II]].<ref>Ramet, Sabrina P. The Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Ends: Kosovo in Serbian Perception. In Mary Buckley & Sally N. Cummings (eds.), ''Kosovo: Perceptions of War and Its Aftermath''. L.&nbsp;– N.Y.: Continuum Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-8264-5670-7}}. pp. 30–46.</ref>

After the [[Axis invasion of Yugoslavia]] in 1941, most of Kosovo was assigned to Italian-controlled Albania, and the rest was controlled by Germany and Bulgaria. A three-dimensional conflict ensued, involving inter-ethnic, ideological, and international affiliations.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=312}} Albanian collaborators persecuted Serb and Montenegrin settlers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bieber |first1=Florian |last2=Daskalovski |first2=Zidas |title=Understanding the War in Kosovo |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-76155-4 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6OiQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |access-date=19 November 2021 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119180548/https://books.google.com/books?id=6OiQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |url-status=live}}</ref> Estimates differ, but most authors estimate that between 3,000 and 10,000 Serbs and Montenegrins [[Massacres of Kosovo Serbs in WWII|died in Kosovo during the Second World War]]. Another 30,000 to 40,000, or as high as 100,000, Serbs and Montenegrins, mainly settlers, were deported to Serbia in order to [[Albanianise]] Kosovo.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=312}}<ref name="Ramet2006" /> A decree from Yugoslav leader [[Josip Broz Tito]], followed by a new law in August 1945 disallowed the return of colonists who had taken land from Albanian peasants.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=317-318}} During the war years, some Serbs and Montenegrins were sent to concentration camps in Pristina and Mitrovica.<ref name="Ramet2006">{{cite book |last1=Ramet |first1=Sabrina P. |title=The Three Yugoslavias: State-building and Legitimation, 1918–2005 |date=2006 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-34656-8 |pages=114, 141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC&pg=PA114 |access-date=19 November 2021 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119180549/https://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC&pg=PA114 |url-status=live}}</ref> Nonetheless, these conflicts were relatively low-level compared with other areas of Yugoslavia during the war years. Two Serb historians also estimate that 12,000 Albanians died.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=312}} An official investigation conducted by the Yugoslav government in 1964 recorded nearly 8,000 war-related fatalities in Kosovo between 1941 and 1945, 5,489 of them Serb or Montenegrin and 2,177 Albanian.<ref>{{cite book|last = Frank|first = Chaim|editor1-last = Petersen|editor1-first = Hans-Christian|editor2-last = Salzborn|editor2-first = Samuel|year = 2010|title = Antisemitism in Eastern Europe: History and Present in Comparison|publisher = Peter Lang|location = [[Bern]]|isbn=978-3-631-59828-3|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=k6sqlTGHpsAC|pages = 97–98|url-status=live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151016003257/https://books.google.com/books?id=k6sqlTGHpsAC|archive-date = 16 October 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref> Some sources note that up to 72,000 individuals were encouraged to settle or resettle into Kosovo from Albania by the short-lived Italian administration.<ref>{{Citation|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|title=Between Serb and Albanian: a history of Kosovo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S41pAAAAMAAJ&q=%22encouraged+an+extensive%22|year=1998|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-85065-278-6|quote=The Italian occupation force encouraged an extensive settlement programme involving up to 72,000 Albanians from Albania in Kosovo|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304215008/https://books.google.rs/books?id=S41pAAAAMAAJ&q=%22encouraged+an+extensive%22|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Ramet2006" /> As the regime collapsed, this was never materialised with historians and contemporary references emphasising that a large-scale migration of Albanians from Albania to Kosovo is not recorded in Axis documents.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|pp=312–313}}
{{Clear}}

=== Communist Yugoslavia ===
{{Main|Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo}}

[[File:Flag of SFR Yugoslav Albanian Minority.svg|thumb|The flag of the Albanian minority of Kosovo in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]

The existing province took shape in 1945 as the ''Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija'', with a final demarcation in 1959.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flere |first1=Sergej |last2=Klanjšek |first2=Rudi |title=The Rise and Fall of Socialist Yugoslavia: Elite Nationalism and the Collapse of a Federation |date=2019 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-4985-4197-8 |page=29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Pavlowitch|first=Stevan K.|author-link=Stevan K. Pavlowitch|title=Serbia: The History behind the Name|year=2002|location=London|publisher=Hurst & Company|isbn=978-1-85065-477-3 |page=159}}</ref> Until 1945, the only entity bearing the name of Kosovo in the late modern period had been the Vilayet of Kosovo, a political unit created by the Ottoman Empire in 1877. However, those borders were different.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fowkes |first1=Ben |title=Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict in the Post-Communist World |date=2002 |publisher=Palgrave |location=United States of America |isbn=978-1-349-41937-1 |page=10}}</ref>

Tensions between ethnic Albanians and the Yugoslav government were significant, not only due to ethnic tensions but also due to political ideological concerns, especially regarding relations with neighbouring Albania.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 35">Independent International Commission on Kosovo. ''The Kosovo report: conflict, international response, lessons learned''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. p. 35.</ref> Harsh repressive measures were imposed on Kosovo Albanians due to suspicions that there were sympathisers of the [[Stalinist]] regime of [[Enver Hoxha]] of Albania.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 35"/> In 1956, a show trial in Pristina was held in which multiple Albanian Communists of Kosovo were convicted of being infiltrators from Albania and given long prison sentences.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 35"/> High-ranking Serbian communist official [[Aleksandar Ranković]] sought to secure the position of the Serbs in Kosovo and gave them dominance in Kosovo's [[nomenklatura]].<ref>Melissa Katherine Bokovoy, Jill A. Irvine, Carol S. Lilly. State-society relations in Yugoslavia, 1945–1992. Scranton, Pennsylvania: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. p. 295.</ref>
[[File:Fadil Hoxha, commander of Kosovo partisans.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Fadil Hoxha]], the vice-president of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], from 1978 to 1979]]
[[Islam]] in Kosovo at this time was repressed and both Albanians and Muslim Slavs were encouraged to declare themselves to be Turkish and emigrate to Turkey.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 35"/> At the same time Serbs and Montenegrins dominated the government, security forces, and industrial employment in Kosovo.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 35"/> Albanians resented these conditions and protested against them in the late 1960s, calling the actions taken by authorities in Kosovo colonialist, and demanding that Kosovo be made a republic, or declaring support for Albania.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 35"/>

After the ouster of Ranković in 1966, the agenda of pro-decentralisation reformers in Yugoslavia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralisation of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognising a Muslim Yugoslav nationality.<ref name="Melissa Katherine Bokovoy 1992. Pp. 296">Melissa Katherine Bokovoy, Jill A. Irvine, Carol S. Lilly. State-society relations in Yugoslavia, 1945–1992. Scranton, Pennsylvania: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. p. 296.</ref> As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs in large scale.<ref name="Melissa Katherine Bokovoy 1992. Pp. 296"/> Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the [[University of Pristina]] as an [[Albanian language]] institution.<ref name="Melissa Katherine Bokovoy 1992. Pp. 296"/> These changes created widespread fear among Serbs that they were being made [[second-class citizen]]s in Yugoslavia.<ref>Melissa Katherine Bokovoy, Jill A. Irvine, Carol S. Lilly. State-society relations in Yugoslavia, 1945–1992. Scranton, Pennsylvania: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. p. 301.</ref> By the 1974 Constitution of Yugoslavia, Kosovo was granted major autonomy, allowing it to have its own administration, assembly, and judiciary; as well as having a membership in the collective presidency and the Yugoslav parliament, in which it held veto power.<ref>Independent International Commission on Kosovo. ''The Kosovo report: conflict, international response, lessons learned''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. pp. 35–36.</ref>

In the aftermath of the 1974 constitution, concerns over the rise of Albanian nationalism in Kosovo rose with the widespread celebrations in 1978 of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the [[League of Prizren]].<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 35"/> Albanians felt that their status as a "minority" in Yugoslavia had made them second-class citizens in comparison with the "nations" of Yugoslavia and demanded that Kosovo be a [[constituent republic]], alongside the other republics of Yugoslavia.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 36">Independent International Commission on Kosovo. ''The Kosovo report: conflict, international response, lessons learned''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. p. 36.</ref> [[1981 protests in Kosovo|Protests by Albanians in 1981 over the status of Kosovo]] resulted in Yugoslav territorial defence units being brought into Kosovo and a state of emergency being declared resulting in violence and the protests being crushed.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 36"/> In the aftermath of the 1981 protests, purges took place in the Communist Party, and rights that had been recently granted to Albanians were rescinded&nbsp;– including ending the provision of Albanian professors and Albanian language textbooks in the education system.<ref name="Kosovo. 2000. Pp. 36"/>

While Albanians in the region had the highest birth rates in Europe, other areas of Yugoslavia including Serbia had low birth rates. Increased urbanisation and economic development led to higher settlements of Albanian workers into Serb-majority areas, as Serbs departed in response to the economic climate for more favourable real estate conditions in Serbia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Qirezi |first1=Arben |editor1-last=Mehmeti |editor1-first=Leandrit I. |editor2-last=Radeljić |editor2-first=Branislav |title=Kosovo and Serbia: Contested Options and Shared Consequences |date=2017 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |isbn=978-0-8229-8157-2 |pages=53–57 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWMqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT76 |chapter=Settling the Self Determination Dispute in Kosovo |access-date=4 July 2023 |archive-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704174259/https://books.google.com/books?id=IWMqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT76 |url-status=live }}</ref> While there was tension, charges of "genocide" and planned harassment have been discredited as a pretext to revoke Kosovo's autonomy. For example, in 1986 the Serbian Orthodox Church published an official claim that Kosovo Serbs were being subjected to an Albanian program of 'genocide'.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ap8wa_YmT2QC&pg=PA215 |title=Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity: An Introduction |publisher=New York University Press |access-date=20 July 2009 |isbn=978-0-8147-6701-6 |editor-last=Prentiss |editor-first=Craig R |year=2003 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124233817/https://books.google.com/books?id=ap8wa_YmT2QC&pg=PA215 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Even though they were disproved by police statistics,<ref name="books.google.com"/>{{Page needed|date=June 2014}} they received wide attention in the Serbian press and that led to further ethnic problems and eventual removal of Kosovo's status. Beginning in March 1981, Kosovar Albanian students of the University of Pristina organised protests seeking that Kosovo become a republic within Yugoslavia and demanding their human rights.<ref name="nyt19810419">New York Times 1981-04-19, "One Storm has Passed but Others are Gathering in Yugoslavia"</ref> The protests were brutally suppressed by the police and army, with many protesters arrested.<ref name="hdk">[[Elsie, Robert]]. ''Historical Dictionary of Kosova''. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-8108-5309-4}}.</ref> During the 1980s, ethnic tensions continued with frequent violent outbreaks against Yugoslav state authorities, resulting in a further increase in emigration of Kosovo Serbs and other ethnic groups.<ref name="reuters19860527">Reuters 1986-05-27, "Kosovo Province Revives Yugoslavia's Ethnic Nightmare"</ref><ref name="csm19860728">Christian Science Monitor 1986-07-28, "Tensions among ethnic groups in Yugoslavia begin to boil over"</ref> The Yugoslav leadership tried to suppress protests of Kosovo Serbs seeking protection from ethnic discrimination and violence.<ref name="nyt19870627">New York Times 1987-06-27, "Belgrade Battles Kosovo Serbs"</ref>
{{Clear}}

=== Kosovo War ===
{{Main|Kosovo War}}
{{Further|War crimes in the Kosovo War}}

[[File:Dr. Ibrahim Rugova.jpg|180px|thumb|right|[[Ibrahim Rugova]] advocated for the rights of Kosovar Albanians and their self-determination]]

Inter-ethnic tensions continued to worsen in Kosovo throughout the 1980s. In 1989, Serbian President [[Slobodan Milošević]], employing a mix of intimidation and political maneuvering, drastically reduced Kosovo's special autonomous status within Serbia and started cultural oppression of the ethnic Albanian population.<ref name="rogel">{{Cite journal|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1025397128633|doi=10.1023/A:1025397128633|year=2003|last1=Rogel|first1=Carole|title=Kosovo: Where It All Began|journal=International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society|volume=17|issue=1|pages=167–182|s2cid=141051220|access-date=20 June 2021|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203551/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1025397128633|url-status=live}}</ref> Kosovar Albanians responded with a [[Non-violent resistance|non-violent]] separatist movement, employing widespread [[civil disobedience]] and creation of parallel structures in [[medical school|education, medical]] care, and taxation, with the ultimate goal of achieving the [[independence of Kosovo]].<ref>Clark, Howard. ''Civil Resistance in Kosovo''. London: [[Pluto Press]], 2000. {{ISBN|0-7453-1569-0}}.</ref>

In July 1990, the Kosovo Albanians proclaimed the existence of the [[Republic of Kosova]], and declared it a sovereign and independent state in September 1992.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|pp=346–347}} In May 1992, [[Ibrahim Rugova]] was elected its president.<ref name="babuna">Babuna, Aydın. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110512010615/http://www.sam.gov.tr/perceptions/Volume8/September-November2003/AydinBabuna2Dec2003.pdf Albanian national identity and Islam in the post-Communist era]. ''Perceptions'' 8(3), September–November 2003: 43–69.</ref> During its lifetime, the Republic of Kosova was only officially [[diplomatic recognition|recognised]] by Albania. By the mid-1990s, the Kosovo Albanian population was growing restless, as the status of Kosovo was not resolved as part of the [[Dayton Agreement]] of November 1995, which ended the [[Bosnian War]]. 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]],<ref>See:
* {{Cite book|title=State-building in Kosovo. A plural policing perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YS15BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|publisher=Maklu|date=2015|page=53|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306202756/https://books.google.rs/books?id=YS15BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|archive-date=6 March 2016|isbn=978-90-466-0749-7|access-date=7 September 2016}}
* {{Cite book|title=Liberating Kosovo: Coercive Diplomacy and U. S. Intervention|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5sa90AEvi0C&pg=PA69|publisher=[[Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs]]|date=2012|page=69|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306193001/https://books.google.rs/books?id=X5sa90AEvi0C&pg=PA69|archive-date=6 March 2016|isbn=978-0-262-30512-9|access-date=7 September 2016}}
* {{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Genocide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C&pg=PA249|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|date=2008|page=249|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306190516/https://books.google.rs/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C&pg=PA249|archive-date=6 March 2016|isbn=978-0-313-34642-2|access-date=7 September 2016}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|title=Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kosovo-Liberation-Army|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|date=2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906171517/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kosovo-Liberation-Army|archive-date=6 September 2015}}
* {{cite magazine|title=Albanian Insurgents Keep NATO Forces Busy|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,101938,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=6 March 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226173544/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,101938,00.html|archive-date=26 December 2016}}</ref> had prevailed over the Rugova's non-violent resistance movement and launched attacks against the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police in Kosovo, resulting in the [[Kosovo War]].<ref name="rogel"/><ref>Rama, Shinasi A. [http://www.alb-net.com/amcc/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid985323600,53297, The Serb-Albanian War, and the International Community's Miscalculations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429172242/http://www.alb-net.com/amcc/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid985323600,53297, |date=29 April 2009}}. ''The International Journal of Albanian Studies'', 1 (1998), pp. 15–19.</ref>

By 1998, international pressure compelled Yugoslavia to sign a ceasefire and partially withdraw its security forces. Events were to be monitored by [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) observers according to an agreement negotiated by [[Richard Holbrooke]]. The ceasefire did not hold and fighting resumed in December 1998, culminating in the [[Račak massacre]], which attracted further international attention to the conflict.<ref name="rogel"/> Within weeks, a multilateral international conference was convened and by March had prepared a draft agreement known as the [[Rambouillet Accords]], calling for the restoration of Kosovo's autonomy and the deployment of [[NATO]] [[peacekeeping]] forces. The Yugoslav delegation found the terms unacceptable and refused to sign the draft. Between 24 March and 10 June 1999, [[1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|NATO intervened]] by bombing Yugoslavia, aiming to force Milošević to withdraw his forces from Kosovo,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/kosovo/all-frce.htm|title=Operation Allied Force|publisher=NATO|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912233627/http://www.nato.int/kosovo/all-frce.htm|archive-date=12 September 2016}}</ref> though NATO could not appeal to any particular motion of the [[Security Council of the United Nations]] to help legitimise its intervention. Combined with continued skirmishes between Albanian guerrillas and Yugoslav forces the conflict resulted in a further massive displacement of population in Kosovo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/partners/PARTNERS/3bb051c54.pdf|title=NATO and Humanitarian Action in the Kosovo Crisis|author1=Larry Minear|author2=Ted van Baarda|author3=Marc Sommers|year=2000|publisher=[[Brown University]]|access-date=23 February 2008|archive-date=26 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226204541/http://www.unhcr.org/partners/PARTNERS/3bb051c54.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Missing Men of Krusha e Madhe (Burrat e Krushes se Madhe).jpg|thumb|[[Kosovo Albanians|Kosovar Albanian]] soldiers holding pictures in memory of the men who were killed or went missing in the [[Krusha massacres]]]]
[[File:Bllace refugee camp.jpg|thumb|Photograph of Kosovo Albanian refugees during the Kosovo War, presented as evidence at the trial of Slobodan Milošević]]

During the conflict, between 848,000 and 863,000 ethnic Albanians fled or were forcefully driven from Kosovo and an additional 590,000 were internally displaced.<ref>{{cite web |date=2000 |title=The Kosovo Report |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/facultyhome/drwcasebook/Documents/Documents/The%20Kosovo%20Report%20and%20Update.pdf |website=law.umich.edu |publisher=United Nations |page=43}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jenne |first1=Erin K. |date=2010 |title=Barriers to Reintegration after Ethnic Civil Wars: Lessons from Minority Returns and Restitution in the Balkans |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232967037 |journal=Civil Wars |volume=12 |issue=4 |page=382 |doi=10.1080/13698249.2010.534622}}</ref> Some sources claim that this [[ethnic cleansing]] of Albanians was part of a plan known as [[Operation Horseshoe]], described as "Milosevic's final solution to the Kosovo problem".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lambeth |first1=Benjamin S. |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1365/RAND_MR1365.pdf |title=NATO's Air War for Kosovo: A Strategic and Operational Assessment |date=2001 |publisher=RAND Corporation |isbn=0-8330-3050-7 |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=7 June 2000 |title=KOSOVO: THE MILITARY CAMPAIGN |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmfaff/28/2811.htm |access-date=14 June 2024 |website=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Freedman |first1=Lawrence |date=2000 |title=Victims and victors: reflections on the Kosovo War |url=https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/8671289.pdf |journal=Review of International Studies |volume=26 |issue=3 |page=351 |doi=10.1017/S0260210500003351}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Beaumont |first1=Peter |last2=Wintour |first2=Patrick |last3=Bird |first3=Chris |last4=Henley |first4=John |last5=Hooper |first5=John |date=1999-07-17 |title=Milosevic and Operation Horseshoe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jul/18/balkans8 |access-date=2024-08-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> However, the existence and implementation of this plan has not been proven.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wolfgram |first=Mark |date=June 2008 |title=Democracy and Propaganda: NATO's War in Kosovo |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0267323108089220 |journal=European Journal of Communication |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=153–171 |doi=10.1177/0267323108089220 |s2cid=143132309 |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="Greenhill">{{cite book |last1=Greenhill |first1=Kelly M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dpPHnMur3y4C&pg=PA133 |title=Weapons of Mass Migration: Forced Displacement, Coercion, and Foreign Policy |date=2011 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-5742-5 |pages=132–133}}</ref>

During the war, over 90,000 Serbian and other non-Albanian refugees fled the province. In September 1998, Serbian police collected 34 bodies of people believed to have been seized and murdered by the KLA, among them some ethnic Albanians, at Lake Radonjić near Glođane (Gllogjan) in what became known as the [[Lake Radonjić massacre]], the most serious atrocity by the KLA during the conflict.<ref name="hrw.org">{{cite web |date=August 1999 |title=Abuses against Serbs and Roma in the new Kosovo |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kosov2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015122541/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kosov2/ |archive-date=15 October 2012 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-01.htm|title=UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo – 2. Background|website=www.hrw.org|access-date=28 May 2019|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407112036/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-01.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> By June, Milošević agreed to a foreign military presence in Kosovo and the withdrawal of his troops. In the days after the Yugoslav Army withdrew, over 80,000 Serb and other non-Albanian civilians (almost half of 200,000 estimated to live in Kosovo) were expelled from Kosovo, and many of the remaining civilians were victims of abuse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kosov2/|title=Abuses against Serbs and Roma in the new Kosovo|date=August 1999|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015122541/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kosov2/|archive-date=15 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkQ3I6GyClEC&pg=PA29|title=After Yugoslavia: Identities and Politics Within the Successor States|date=2012|page=30|isbn=978-0-230-20131-6|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101051745/https://books.google.com/books?id=wkQ3I6GyClEC&pg=PA29|archive-date=1 January 2016|last1=Hudson|first1=Robert|last2=Bowman|first2=Glenn|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/3ae6b80f2c.html|title=Kosovo Crisis Update|date=4 August 1999|publisher=[[UNHCR]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016002408/http://www.unhcr.org/3ae6b80f2c.html|archive-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.osce.org/odihr/21342?download=true|title=Forced Expulsion of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians from OSCE Participated state to Kosovo|date=6 October 2006|publisher=[[OSCE]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126062302/http://www.osce.org/odihr/21342?download=true|archive-date=26 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Wills">{{cite book|author=Siobhán Wills|title=Protecting Civilians: The Obligations of Peacekeepers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QoqQ7kBrlSAC&pg=PA219|access-date=24 February 2013|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-953387-9|page=219|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606104524/http://books.google.com/books?id=QoqQ7kBrlSAC&pg=PA219|archive-date=6 June 2013}}</ref> After the Kosovo and other [[Yugoslav Wars]], Serbia became home to the highest number of refugees and [[IDPs]] (including Kosovo Serbs) in Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=75016|title=Serbia home to highest number of refugees and IDPs in Europe|date=20 June 2010|publisher=[[B92]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082532/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=75016|archive-date=26 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true|title=Serbia: Europe's largest proctracted refugee situation|date=2008|publisher=[[OSCE]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082139/http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true|archive-date=26 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&pg=PP1|title=Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration|date=2013|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|page=169|editor1-first=Sharyl|editor1-last=Cross|editor2-first=Savo|editor2-last=Kentera|editor3-first=R. Craig|editor3-last=Nation|editor4-first=Radovan|editor4-last=Vukadinović|isbn=978-1-137-01020-9|access-date=31 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082403/https://books.google.rs/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1|archive-date=26 March 2017}}</ref>[[File:Kosovo-metohija-koreni-duse029.jpg|thumb|left|Serbian and other children refugees, Cernica, Gjilan]]

[[File:Monumenti Heroinat në Prishtinë.jpg|thumb|200px|"[[Heroinat Memorial|Heroinat]]" (Heroines) monument in [[Pristina]]. It is dedicated to women victims of sexual violence perpetrated by Serbian forces, during the Kosovo War, of which the vast majority were Albanian women<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-13 |title="Wounds that burn our souls": Compensation for Kosovo's wartime rape survivors, but still no justice |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur70/7558/2017/en/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Amnesty International |language=en |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725132034/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur70/7558/2017/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) prosecuted crimes committed during the Kosovo War. Nine senior Yugoslav officials, including Milošević, were indicted for [[crimes against humanity]] and [[war crimes]] committed between January and June 1999. Six of the defendants were convicted, one was acquitted, one died before his trial could commence, and one (Milošević) died before his trial could conclude.<ref name="icty">{{cite web|url=http://www.icty.org/sid/10095|title=ICTY&nbsp;– TPIY: Judgement List|publisher=icty.org|access-date=3 March 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301030130/http://www.icty.org/sid/10095|archive-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> Six KLA members were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes by the ICTY following the war, and one was convicted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/limaj/cis/en/cis_limaj_al_en.pdf |title=ICTY.org |access-date=28 April 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827083654/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/limaj/cis/en/cis_limaj_al_en.pdf |archive-date=27 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/haradinaj/cis/en/cis_haradinaj_al_en.pdf |title=ICTY.org |access-date=28 April 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301212926/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/haradinaj/cis/en/cis_haradinaj_al_en.pdf |archive-date=1 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/limaj/ind/en/lim-2ai040212e.pdf|title=Second Amended Indictment&nbsp;– Limaj et al|publisher=Icty.org|access-date=20 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726171431/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/limaj/ind/en/lim-2ai040212e.pdf|archive-date=26 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="Haradinaj cleared">{{cite news|title=Kosovo ex-PM Ramush Haradinaj cleared of war crimes|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20536318|access-date=29 November 2012|work=BBC News|date=29 November 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129170103/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20536318|archive-date=29 November 2012}}</ref>

In total around 10,317 civilians were killed during the war, of whom 8,676 were Albanians, 1,196 Serbs and 445 Roma and others in addition to 3,218 killed members of armed formations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kosovomemorybook.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Expert_Evaluation_of_Kosovo_Memory_Book_Database_Prishtina_04_02_2015.pdf |title= Kosovo Memory Book Database Presentation and Expert Evaluation | website = Kosovo Memory Book 1998–2000 |access-date=28 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111055051/http://www.kosovomemorybook.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Expert_Evaluation_of_Kosovo_Memory_Book_Database_Prishtina_04_02_2015.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2019 }}</ref>

=== United Nations administration ===
{{Main|United Nations Administered Kosovo|United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo|Kosovo status process}}

[[File:Clintons visit Stenkovic 1 Refugee Camp.jpg|upright|thumb|left|US President [[Bill Clinton]] with Albanian children during his visit to Kosovo, June 1999]]

On 10 June 1999, the UN Security Council passed [[UN Security Council Resolution 1244]], which placed Kosovo under transitional UN administration (UNMIK) and authorised [[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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Resolution 1244 (1999) |date=17 June 1999 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/371562.stm |access-date=19 February 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407233507/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/371562.stm |archive-date=7 April 2008}}</ref>

Estimates of the number of Serbs who left when Serbian forces left Kosovo vary from 65,000<ref>European Stability Initiative (ESI): [http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/esi_document_id_53.pdf The Lausanne Principle: Multiethnicity, Territory and the Future of Kosovo's Serbs (.pdf)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324234708/http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/esi_document_id_53.pdf |date=24 March 2009}}, 7 June 2004.</ref> to 250,000.<ref>Coordinating Centre of Serbia for Kosovo-Metohija: [https://web.archive.org/web/20040416201639/http://www.serbia.sr.gov.yu/coordination_centre/index.html Principles of the program for return of internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija].</ref> Within post-conflict Kosovo Albanian society, calls for retaliation for previous violence done by Serb forces during the war circulated through public culture.<ref name="Herscher14">{{harvnb|Herscher|2010|p=14}}.</ref> Widespread attacks against Serbian cultural sites commenced following the conflict and the return of hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees to their homes.<ref name="Riedlmayer11">{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.sense-agency.com/assets/kosovo/sg-6-06-riedlmayer-foreword-interfaith-eng.pdf|title=Introduction in Destruction of Islamic Heritage in the Kosovo War, 1998–1999|author=András Riedlmayer|page=11|access-date=29 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712133659/http://heritage.sense-agency.com/assets/kosovo/sg-6-06-riedlmayer-foreword-interfaith-eng.pdf|archive-date=12 July 2019}}</ref> In 2004, prolonged negotiations over Kosovo's future status, sociopolitical problems and nationalist sentiments resulted in the [[2004 unrest in Kosovo|Kosovo unrest]].<ref name="RauschBanar246">{{harvnb|Rausch|Banar|2006|p=246}}.</ref><ref name="Egleder79">{{harvnb|Egleder|2013|p=79}}.</ref> 11 Albanians and 16 Serbs were killed, 900 people (including peacekeepers) were injured, and several houses, public buildings and churches were damaged or destroyed.

International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo, as envisaged under [[UN Security Council Resolution 1244]]. The UN-backed talks, led by UN [[Diplomatic rank|Special Envoy]] [[Martti Ahtisaari]], began in February 2006. Whilst progress was made on technical matters, both parties remained diametrically opposed on the question of status itself.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6034567.stm UN frustrated by Kosovo deadlock] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307072437/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6034567.stm |date=7 March 2016}} ", ''BBC News'', 9 October 2006.</ref>

In February 2007, Ahtisaari delivered a draft status settlement proposal to leaders in Belgrade and Pristina, the basis for a draft [[UN Security Council Resolution]] which proposed 'supervised independence' for the province. A draft resolution, backed by the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]] and other European members of the [[Security Council]], was presented and rewritten four times to try to accommodate Russian concerns that such a resolution would undermine the principle of state sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/06/29/nb-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702211016/http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/06/29/nb-07|archive-date=2 July 2007 |title=Russia reportedly rejects fourth draft resolution on Kosovo status |author=Southeast European Times |date=29 June 2007 |access-date=24 July 2009}}</ref>

Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council as one of five permanent members, had stated that it would not support any resolution which was not acceptable to both Belgrade and Kosovo Albanians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/07/10/nb-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012154347/http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/07/10/nb-02|archive-date=12 October 2007 |title=UN Security Council remains divided on Kosovo |author=Southeast European Times |date= 10 July 2007 |access-date=24 July 2009}}</ref> Whilst most observers had, at the beginning of the talks, anticipated independence as the most likely outcome, others have suggested that a rapid resolution might not be preferable.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/985caa90-de5a-11db-afa7-000b5df10621.html?nclick_check=1 |title=A long reconciliation process is required |author=James Dancer |date=30 March 2007 |website=Financial Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208151642/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/985caa90-de5a-11db-afa7-000b5df10621.html?nclick_check=1 |archive-date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

After many weeks of discussions at the UN, the United States, United Kingdom and other European members of the Security Council formally 'discarded' a draft resolution backing Ahtisaari's proposal on 20 July 2007, having failed to secure Russian backing. Beginning in August, a "[[wikt:troika|Troika]]" consisting of negotiators from the European Union ([[Wolfgang Ischinger]]), the United States ([[Frank G. Wisner]]) and Russia (Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko) launched a new effort to reach a status outcome acceptable to both Belgrade and Pristina. Despite Russian disapproval, the U.S., the United Kingdom, and France appeared likely to recognise Kosovar independence.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,2209907,00.html |title=Bosnian nightmare returns to haunt EU |author=Simon Tisdall |date=13 November 2007 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307171451/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/13/international.mainsection |url-status=live}}</ref> A declaration of independence by Kosovar Albanian leaders was postponed until the end of the [[2008 Serbian presidential election|Serbian presidential elections]] (4 February 2008). A significant portion of politicians in both the EU and the US had feared that a premature declaration could boost support in Serbia for the nationalist candidate, [[Tomislav Nikolić]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6386467.stm |title=Europe, Q&A: Kosovo's future |work=BBC News |date=11 July 2008 |access-date=20 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123190828/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6386467.stm |archive-date=23 January 2009}}</ref>

In November 2001, the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] supervised the [[2004 Kosovar parliamentary election|first elections]] for the [[Assembly of Kosovo]].<ref>"[http://www.osce.org/kosovo/13208.html OSCE Mission in Kosovo&nbsp;– Elections] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509143621/http://www.osce.org/kosovo/13208.html |date=9 May 2008}} ", Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe</ref> After that election, Kosovo's political parties formed an all-party unity coalition and elected [[Ibrahim Rugova]] as president and [[Bajram Rexhepi]] (PDK) as Prime Minister.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1846264.stm Power-sharing deal reached in Kosovo] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825081955/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1846264.stm |date=25 August 2016}}", [[BBC News]], 21 February 2002.</ref> After Kosovo-wide elections in October 2004, the LDK and AAK formed a new governing coalition that did not include PDK and Ora. This coalition agreement resulted in [[Ramush Haradinaj]] (AAK) becoming Prime Minister, while Ibrahim Rugova retained the position of President. PDK and Ora were critical of the coalition agreement and have since frequently accused that government of corruption.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicinternationallaw.org/docs/BW2005/Balkan_Watch.11April_05.pdf |title=Publicinternationallaw.org |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121041814/http://www.publicinternationallaw.org/docs/BW2005/Balkan_Watch.11April_05.pdf |archive-date=21 November 2008}}</ref>

[[2007 Kosovar parliamentary election|Parliamentary elections]] were held on 17 November 2007. After early results, [[Hashim Thaçi]] who was on course to gain 35 per cent of the vote, claimed victory for PDK, the [[Democratic Party of Kosovo]], and stated his intention to declare independence. Thaçi formed a coalition with president [[Fatmir Sejdiu]]'s [[Democratic League of Kosovo|Democratic League]] which was in second place with 22 percent of the vote.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7179850.stm Kosovo gets pro-independence PM] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408184153/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7179850.stm |date=8 April 2008}}", BBC News, 9 January 2008.</ref> The turnout at the election was particularly low. Most members of the Serb minority refused to vote.<ref>[http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=454473&lng=1 EuroNews: Ex-guerilla chief claims victory in Kosovo election] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206035607/http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=454473&lng=1 |date=6 February 2008}}. Retrieved 18 November 2007.</ref>

=== Declaration of independence ===
{{Main|2008 Kosovo declaration of independence}}
{{See also|International recognition of Kosovo}}

[[File:Gebäude der UNMIK NEW BORN SIGN PRISTINA KOSOVO Giv Owned Image 23 August 2008.jpg|thumb|The [[Newborn monument]] unveiled at the celebration of the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence proclaimed earlier that day, 17 February 2008, [[Pristina]]]]
[[File:Hashim Thaci Joe Biden Fatmir Sejdiu with Declaration of Independence of Kosovo.JPG|thumb|The [[Prime Minister of Kosovo|prime minister of Kosovo]] [[Hashim Thaçi]], then-[[U.S. Vice President]] [[Joe Biden]] and the [[president of Kosovo]] [[Fatmir Sejdiu]] with the [[Declaration of Independence of Kosovo]]]]
Kosovo declared independence from [[Serbia]] on 17 February 2008.<ref name="bbc_proclaim">"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7249034.stm Kosovo MPs proclaim independence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215131649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7249034.stm |date=15 February 2009}}", [[BBC News Online]], 17 February 2008.</ref> {{Numrec|Kos|asof=S||UN states}} recognised its independence, including all of its immediate neighbours, with the exception of Serbia;<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7662149.stm BBC News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203110112/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7662149.stm |date=3 February 2016}}. Retrieved 10 October 2008.</ref> 10 states have subsequently withdrawn that recognition.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a546106/Dacic-says-95-countries-do-not-recognise-Kosovo-as-state-after-Nauru-s-withdrawal.html | title=Nauru withdraws recognition of Kosovo's independence, Pristina denies | work=N1 Srbija | publisher=N1 | date=22 November 2019 | access-date=18 April 2020 | archive-date=13 May 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513073923/http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a546106/Dacic-says-95-countries-do-not-recognise-Kosovo-as-state-after-Nauru-s-withdrawal.html | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://prishtinainsight.com/serbia-claims-sierra-leone-has-withdrawn-kosovo-recognition/ | title=Serbia claims Sierra Leone has withdrawn Kosovo recognition | publisher=Prishtina Insight | date=3 March 2020 | access-date=18 April 2020 | archive-date=22 April 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422142329/https://prishtinainsight.com/serbia-claims-sierra-leone-has-withdrawn-kosovo-recognition/ | url-status=live}}</ref> Of the UN Security Council members, while the US, UK and France do recognise Kosovo's independence, Russia and China do not.<ref name="voa_serbia_kosovo_agreement">{{cite web |title=US-Brokered Serbia-Kosovo Deal a 'Step Forward' But Challenges Remain |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/europe_us-brokered-serbia-kosovo-deal-step-forward-challenges-remain/6195487.html |date=September 5, 2020 |last=Kostreci |first=Keida |website=Voice of America |access-date=September 7, 2020 |archive-date=7 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907223628/https://www.voanews.com/europe/us-brokered-serbia-kosovo-deal-step-forward-challenges-remain |url-status=live}}</ref> Since declaring independence, it has become a member of international institutions such as the [[International Monetary Fund]] and [[World Bank]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/ms/2009/062409.htm |title=Republic of Kosovo&nbsp;– IMF Staff Visit, Concluding Statement |publisher=Imf.org |date=24 June 2009 |access-date=20 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629132600/http://www.imf.org/external/np/ms/2009/062409.htm |archive-date=29 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/0,,pagePK:180619~theSitePK:136917,00.html#k |title=World Bank Cauntries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716000650/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/0,,pagePK:180619~theSitePK:136917,00.html#k |archive-date=16 July 2006}}</ref> though not of the United Nations.

The Serb minority of Kosovo, which largely opposes the declaration of independence, has formed the [[Community of Serb Municipalities|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2008/06/30/feature-01 |title=Kosovo Serbs convene parliament; Pristina, international authorities object |publisher=SETimes.com |date=30 June 2008 |access-date=20 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113180251/http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2008/06/30/feature-01 |archive-date=13 January 2009}}</ref>
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&nbsp;– in particular UNSCR 1244&nbsp;– which did not define the final status process nor reserve the outcome to a decision of the Security Council.<ref name="icj-cij">{{cite web|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=4&code=kos&case=141&k=21|title=Advisory Proceedings&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;International Court of Justice|publisher=icj-cij.org|access-date=3 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208141833/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=4&code=kos&case=141&k=21|archive-date=8 February 2014}}</ref>

Some rapprochement between the two governments took place on 19 April 2013 as both parties reached the [[Brussels Agreement (2013)|Brussels Agreement]], an agreement brokered by the EU that allowed the Serb minority in Kosovo to have its own police force and court of appeals.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22222624|title=Serbia and Kosovo reach EU-brokered landmark accord|work=BBC News|date=19 April 2013|access-date=6 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008021737/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22222624|archive-date=8 October 2014}}</ref> The agreement is yet to be ratified by either parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.srbija.gov.rs/vesti/vest.php?id=93685|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006095629/http://www.srbija.gov.rs/vesti/vest.php?id=93685|archive-date=6 October 2014|title=Belgrade, Pristina initial draft agreement |website=Serbian government website|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> Presidents of Serbia and Kosovo organised two meetings, in [[Brussels]] on 27 February 2023 and [[Ohrid]] on 18 March 2023, to create and agree upon an 11-point agreement on implementing a European Union-backed deal to normalise ties between the two countries, which includes recognising "each other's documents such as passports and license plates".<ref>{{cite news |title=Serbia, Kosovo agree on implementation of EU-backed agreement to normalize ties |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/serbia-kosovo-agree-on-implementation-of-eu-backed-agreement-to-normalize-ties/2849709 |newspaper=[[Anadolu Agency]] |date=19 March 2023 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319075130/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/serbia-kosovo-agree-on-implementation-of-eu-backed-agreement-to-normalize-ties/2849709 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A number of protests and demonstrations took place in Kosovo between [[2021 North Kosovo crisis|2021]] and [[North Kosovo crisis (2022–present)|2023]], some of which involved weapons and resulted in deaths on both sides. Amongst the injured were 30 NATO peacekeepers. The main reason behind the 2022–23 demonstrations ended on 1 January 2024 when each country recognised each other's vehicle registration plates.