A LEGITIMACY QUESTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: THE KOSOVO NON-RECOGNITION QUAGMIRE

Year 2021, Volume: 59 Issue: 1, 81 - 112, 31.07.2021

Oğuz Güner

Abstract

Kosovo, the latest breakaway territory in the Balkan region, declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008 despite the international community’s split over this decision. The European Union noted Kosovo's declaration of independence on 18 February and allowed the member states to decide whether to recognise Kosovo. However, there is intransigence among European Union countries in that five member states – Cyprus (the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus), Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain –refused to recognise Kosovo's independence for various reasons. Due to this quagmire in the European Union, Kosovo is far away from its membership perspective. This situation has prevented Kosovo from having positive relations with the European Union and has been endangering the possibility of accession. In this study, the role of the European Union in the process leading to the independence of Kosovo and in the post-independence period is discussed, and the main arguments of the European Union countries that do not recognize Kosovo after the declaration of independence
are discussed. The first part of the study sheds light on the role of the European Union in the process of Kosovo's independence. In the second part, Kosovo-European Union relations after 2008, and in the last part, the reasons of these five Union countries not recognizing Kosovo are discussed. The article concludes that the fact that Kosovo was not recognised by all European Union countries indicates that unity of action has not been established within the Union, which could jeopardize Kosovo’s possible accession process, and recommends that the European Union should play a more active role in Kosovo’s recognition.

Keywords

Kosovo, European Union, EULEX, UNSCR 1244, Recognition

A LEGITIMACY QUESTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: THE KOSOVO NON-RECOGNITION QUAGMIRE

Abstract

Kosovo, the latest breakaway territory in the Balkan region, declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008 despite the international community’s split over this decision. The European Union noted Kosovo's declaration of independence on 18 February and allowed the member states to decide
whether to recognise Kosovo. However, there is intransigence among European Union countries in that five member states – Cyprus (the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus), Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain – refused to recognise Kosovo's independence for various reasons. Due to this quagmire in the European Union, Kosovo is far away from its membership perspective. This situation has prevented Kosovo from having positive relations with the European Union and has been endangering the possibility of accession. In this study, the role of the European Union in the process leading to the independence of Kosovo and in the post-independence period is discussed, and the main arguments of the European Union countries that do not recognize Kosovo after the declaration of independence are discussed. The first part of the study sheds light on the role of the European Union in the process of Kosovo's independence. In the second part, Kosovo-European Union relations after 2008, and in the last part, the reasons of these five Union countries not recognizing Kosovo are discussed. The article concludes that the fact that Kosovo was not recognised by all European Union countries indicates that unity of action has not been established within the Union, which could jeopardize Kosovo’s possible accession process, and recommends that the European Union should play a more active role in Kosovo’s recognition.

Keywords

Kosovo, European Union, EULEX, UNSCR 1244, Recognition

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