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Constitutional framework
In 1971 amendments to the Yugoslav constitution granted Serbia’s two autonomous provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina, nearly equal status with the six republics of Yugoslavia. In 1974 a new Yugoslav constitution enshrined the provinces’ equal status and gave them the right to issue their own constitutions. However, following the rise to power of Slobodan Milošević (president of Serbia from 1989), the government in Belgrade revoked the provinces’ autonomy and retook political control. Kosovo thus was administered by Serbia until the conflict of 1998–99, after which Serbian and Yugoslav forces withdrew and the UN oversaw the installment of an interim administration. Under the guidance of the UN mission, Kosovar Albanians established central and municipal government institutions, while the UN worked to resolve Kosovo’s future status. Multilateral talks on the subject led to a plan—developed by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari and supported by Kosovar Albanians—whereby Kosovo would eventually gain independence. But because Serbia strongly opposed the idea of Kosovar independence, Russia blocked UN approval of the Ahtisaari Plan in 2007. Further talks failed to produce any agreement, and on Feb. 17, 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence. That April a Kosovar assembly approved a constitution, which took effect on June 15, 2008.
Although the constitution granted local self-government to Kosovo’s Serb communities and offered special protection for Serb cultural and religious sites, many Serbs rejected both the declaration of independence and the new government. Numerous Serbs boycotted subsequent elections, preferring to support the parallel administrative structures organized by Serb groups and backed by Belgrade—structures that the Kosovar government deemed illegal.
According to the 2008 constitution, the executive branch of government is led by a president (head of state) and a prime minister (head of government). The president is elected by the Assembly of Kosovo for a five-year term, with the right to be reelected to one additional term. The president appoints the prime minister upon a recommendation by the majority party or coalition in the Assembly. The Assembly is a unicameral legislature composed of 120 deputies directly elected by voters for four-year terms. Of the 120 seats in the Assembly, 100 are distributed on the basis of proportional representation, at least 10 are guaranteed for Kosovar Serbs, and 10 are reserved for members of the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim), Turkish, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, and Gorani communities.
Local government
Municipalities are the basic units of local government. Each municipality is administered by a mayor and a municipal assembly, elected every four years by proportional representation. Municipalities have the right to associate with each other and to participate in the selection of local police commanders. Some municipalities with predominantly Serb populations have special rights, such as the operation of a secondary health system, oversight of postsecondary education, and management of cultural and religious sites.
Justice
The Supreme Court of Kosovo is the highest judicial authority for all matters except constitutional questions, which are decided by the Constitutional Court. For the Supreme Court and lower courts of appeal, at least 15 percent of the judges must hail from minority communities. An independent judicial council ensures the impartiality of the judicial system. The judicial council also recommends candidates for the judiciary to the president of Kosovo, who makes the appointments.
Political process
Suffrage is universal from age 18. Kosovo’s Central Election Commission oversees elections. Postindependence political parties are split largely along ethnic lines. The two main Kosovar Albanian parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës; LDK) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosovës; PDK), formed independent Kosovo’s first coalition government, with Hashim Thaçi of the PDK as prime minister and Fatmir Sejdiu of the LDK as president. The LDK was organized as a response to Kosovo’s loss of autonomy in 1989. Headed by the Kosovar Albanian nationalist writer Ibrahim Rugova, the LDK in 1992 declared the creation of the Republic of Kosovo, which remained internationally unrecognized. After the 1998–99 conflict, the LDK was challenged by the newly formed PDK, led by Thaçi—a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a Kosovar Albanian guerrilla organization. There are a number of smaller Albanian parties, as well as several parties that represent the Serb, Bosniak, Roma, Turkish, and other communities.
Security
At the end of the conflict of 1998–99, the KLA agreed to demilitarize. Under the subsequent UN administration, many KLA members joined the Kosovo Protection Corps, a civilian emergency force. In 2009 the corps was replaced by the Kosovo Security Force, a multiethnic, civilian-controlled, lightly armed military organization. Law enforcement is the responsibility of the multiethnic Kosovo Police Service. A contingent of officials from the European Union monitored and temporarily assisted with policing in postindependence Kosovo.
Health and welfare
A public system provides subsidized health care to citizens. However, many public clinics suffer from limited or poorly maintained equipment and insufficient staff. More costly private clinics have increased in number. Life expectancy for men is about 70 years, which is just under the European average. For women in Kosovo, life expectancy is slightly higher but remains well below the European average of nearly 80.
In the postindependence era many public services in addition to health care—e.g., electricity, water supply, waste collection, and sewage disposal—required significant improvement. Water quality is poor in many urban areas, and most rural areas are not connected to any public water system.
Housing
Traditional homes in Kosovo were built to house large extended families. Albanians built houses of stone, known as kullas, that often featured an inner courtyard protected from outside view. Following the massive destruction that occurred during the 1998–99 conflict, more than 50,000 houses had to be rebuilt. Many of these newer buildings are taller than the traditional structures of the countryside, and they are still intended to house extended families.
Education
A small number of multiethnic schools were established after the 1998–99 conflict, but ethnic tensions jeopardized their success. At the primary and secondary levels, most children attend separate Albanian or Serb schools. The language divide between these groups is reinforced by vastly different lessons on geography and history. Due to a dearth of classrooms and qualified teachers, students in some schools attend one of several shifts each day. The University of Pristina, founded in 1970, is the major public university in Kosovo. It is now primarily an Albanian-language institution that also serves Albanian populations in Serbia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. The Serb component of the university relocated to Mitrovicë (Mitrovica) in the early 21st century; there it became known as the University of Mitrovica, although many Serbs continue to refer to it as the University of Pristina. The English-language American University in Kosovo is a private postsecondary institution that was founded in 2003. Although the literacy rate for both men and women is above 90 percent, it lags behind the nearly universal literacy predominant in the rest of Europe.
Cultural life
The cultural lives of Kosovo’s Albanians and Serbs, although distinctive, bear many resemblances to those of the peoples of Albania and Serbia, respectively. For further information on the cultures of those countries, see Albania: Cultural life and Serbia: Cultural life.
Cultural milieu
Traditional Kosovar society, for both Albanians and Serbs, has an important patriarchal tradition, with extended family members often living together in large groups. Family support networks remain very strong, even when some members live outside the country. Most business connections are made through these networks.
Reflecting Albanian customary law, blood feuds between families were a fairly common occurrence—especially in western Kosovo—until the 1990s, when University of Pristina professor Anton Çetta and other activists led an antivendetta campaign. The practice resurfaced, however, amid the political instability following the 1998–99 conflict.
Daily life and social customs
In Kosovo’s largely secular society, most people dress in Western clothing. Although Muslim women and girls generally do not wear head scarves, in 2009 the ministry of education banned them from schools, arousing controversy. Many older Albanian men still wear a traditional brimless white cap, or plis. For weddings, full traditional dress often is worn, particularly by women; these garments may be embroidered with silver.
Among the most popular traditional Albanian dishes are fli, a dish of pancakelike pastry layered with cream and yogurt, and pite, a phyllo pastry with cheese, meat, or vegetable filling. A distinctive dish is llokuma (sometimes translated as “wedding doughnuts”), deep-fried dough puffs eaten with yogurt and garlic or with honey. Baklava is the most common sweet to serve for special occasions.
Many of Kosovo’s seasonal rites originated in pagan times, and some later were integrated with the Christian and Islamic faiths. For instance, both Orthodox Christians and Muslims burn a Yule log about the time of the winter solstice. For Orthodox Christians, it is a Christmas Eve tradition (celebrated on January 6, according to the Orthodox liturgical calendar). For Muslims the log is known as the buzm. In the Orthodox community, Christmas is surpassed in significance by Easter. Among Muslims, Ramadan is the most important celebration. A popular springtime holiday, St. George’s Day (Albanian: Shëngjergji), is celebrated by members of all faiths. In fall, Kosovar Albanians observe Thanksgiving Day (Darka e Lamës).
The arts
Heroic epics and ballads as well as oral prose traditionally played an important part in relaying the history and myths associated with the ethnic groups of Kosovo. Recitation often was accompanied by the sounds of traditional instruments—such as the single-stringed gusla (Albanian: lahuta; Serbian: gusle) or, among Albanians, the larger two-stringed çifteli. These stories and songs remain important underpinnings of ethnic identity for both Albanians and Serbs. Traditional dances, often circle dances, are still performed as well, often by single-sex groups.
One of the earliest examples of art identified within Kosovo is a 6,000-year-old small terra-cotta figure known as the Goddess on the Throne. Discovered near Pristina in the mid-20th century, it serves as a symbol of Kosovo. Kosovo is rich in folk art dating from the more recent past as well. Snake symbols are a common feature of Albanian architecture and decoration, and a pagan belief that snakes protect households survives to the present day. One of the best-known Kosovar artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries is Sokol Beqiri, whose works include provocative photography, video, and performance pieces.
In the late 19th century, especially after the founding of the Albanian League (the first Albanian nationalist organization; also called the League of Prizren) in 1878, a number of Albanian literary figures advocated for independence from the Ottoman Empire. However, there was relatively little written literature in the Albanian language until the 20th century. Albanian literature in Kosovo proceeded to develop differently than it did in Albania, where the communist government imposed more severe ideological constraints. Among the best-known Kosovar Albanian writers of the 20th and 21st centuries are the novelist, playwright, and poet Eqrem Basha; the poet and critic Sabri Hamiti; the poet Ali Podrimja; the scholar, novelist, and political figure Rexhep Qosja; the novelist Zejnullah Rrahmani; the poet Azem Shkreli; and the poet, doctor, and political activist Flora Brovina, who gained renown during her imprisonment by Yugoslav authorities in 1999–2000. Among Kosovar Serb writers, the 20th-century novelist and literary critic Vukašin Filipović was respected by the Albanian and Serb communities alike.
In the years following the 1998–99 conflict, Kosovo’s young population helped to revive the arts scene. Pristina in particular became a vibrant centre for art, drama, and music. Folk, classical, and contemporary popular music thrived.
Cultural institutions
Among Kosovo’s most significant historic sites are the medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries of Dečani (Albanian: Deçan), Gračanica (Graçanica; near Pristina), and Peć (Pejë), as well as the Church of the Virgin of Ljeviša (near Prizren). In 2004 the Dečani monastery was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site; the others were inscribed in 2006. Two of the oldest Muslim sites are the 15th-century Çarshia and Mbretit (Fatih) mosques in Pristina. During the 1998–99 conflict, dozens of Muslim sites were destroyed, including the 18th-century Red Mosque in Pejë and the Ottoman-era bazaar in Gjakovë (Ðakovica). Following the conflict, revenge attacks damaged or destroyed a number of Orthodox churches, although the World Heritage sites survived.
Pristina is home to the Kosovo Museum (2002), the Academy of Sciences and Arts (1975), and the National Theatre (1946; originally located in Prizren). Construction of an opera house, named after the pre-independence Kosovar Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova, began in the capital in 2009. Many of Kosovo’s cultural and archaeological artifacts remain in Belgrade, Serb., where they were taken prior to the 1998–99 conflict.
Sports and recreation
Skiing, football (soccer), basketball, wrestling, table tennis, and judo are among the sports popular in Kosovo. However, because Kosovo’s independence was not universally recognized, the International Olympic Committee and a number of other international sports organizations denied Kosovar applications for membership. In the early 21st century, ski resorts were under repair following years of neglect and war damage. Kosovo created a network of protected natural areas, including Sharr Mountains National Park, located along the border with North Macedonia.
Media and publishing
Freedom of the press was enshrined in the 2008 constitution. The publicly funded broadcaster Radio Television Kosovo provides television and radio programming, primarily in the Albanian language. There are also a number of privately owned television and radio broadcasters. The major newspaper is the Albanian-language Koha Ditore (“The Daily Times”); other Albanian publications include Zëri (“The Voice”), Kosova Sot (“Kosovo Today”), and Epoka e Re (“The New Epoch”). The Serb community relies on Serbian-language media from local outlets as well as from Serbia.
Antonia Young