yugoslavias implosion

Kosovo’s non-Albanian populations. Lengthy negotiations between
Belgrade and Priština on the future status of Kosovo based on this
proposal were promoted by the eu, the United States, and Russia but
failed. Both Belgrade and Kosovo rejected this attempted compromise.
Belgrade’s various proposals, including giving Kosovo the same
status as that of the Aaland Islands in Finland, not only came late but
also revealed that Belgrade, satisfied with the status quo, 470 never
seriously considered a compromise. 471
The un Security Council discussed the report on the results of a
further round of talks between Belgrade and Priština submitted by
international mediators, the so-called Troika. When further talks
between Belgrade and Pristina mediated by the Troika reached no
compromise, the Security Council returned to Ahtisaari’s plan for
the settlement of Kosovo status. Because Russia exercised its right to
veto, a new Security Council resolution was not adopted.
With no progress on negotiations in sight, the Kosovars unilaterally
proclaimed the Republic of Kosova, obligating themselves to
follow the Ahtisaari plan’s provisions in full. On February 17, 2008, an
act of the Provisional Institutions of the Self-Government Assembly
of Kosovo declared Kosovo to be independent from Serbia. The
United States and the European Union decided to recognize Kosovo’s
independence.
470 Vojislav Koštunica, prime minister at the time, firmly believed that time was on the
Serbian side in solving the Kosovo issue: “I believe that in a year, three or five, for instance,
we will gain much more than we could gain now .” daily Press, February 17, 2008
471 The Åland Islands, situated in the Baltic Sea, belonged to Sweden for centuries but—after
more than a century of Russian rule, had become a part of the sovereign state of Finland
in 1917 . The Swedish population demanded reunification, the Finnish authorities resisted,
and the international community helped forge an agreement that gave the islands very
considerable autonomy, including Åland citizenship, and helped to preserve the local
language, culture, and traditions . See Documents on Autonomy and Minority Rights, ed .
Hurst Hannum (Dordrecht/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1993); and Human
Rights Project Group, Åland Islands: Model for Territorial Autonomy, report sponsored by the
International Foundation for the Survival and Development of Humanity (New York, 1991) .
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