{"id":35622,"date":"2023-06-03T02:16:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T20:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=35622"},"modified":"2025-04-21T09:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T03:59:09","slug":"kosovo-serbia-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/kosovo-serbia-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosovo-Serbia Tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the Geographical location of Kosovo &amp; Serbia?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary: Kosovo-Serbia tensions<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the Reason behind current round of violence?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What was the Kosovo conflict about?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the Role of Russia in current violence in Kosovo?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Violent clashes have taken place in Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and police belonging to the Albanian-led government.<\/li>\n<li>NATO has also announced that it is deploying an extra 700 troops to the country after more than 30 of its peacekeepers were injured.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the Geographical location of Kosovo &amp; Serbia?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi-test.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/content\/ckeditor\/2023\/06\/06\/image-20230606120836-1.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Geographical location of Kosovo &amp; Serbia<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Serbia<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Serbia, officially known as the Republic of Serbia, is a landlocked country located to the north of Kosovo.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It is <strong>bordered b<\/strong>y <u>Hungary to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, North Macedonia to the south, Kosovo to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwes<\/u>t.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The capital and largest city of Serbia is Belgrade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kosovo<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Kosovo, officially known as the Republic of Kosovo, is a <u>partially recognized country<\/u> situated in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia does not recognise Kosovo\u2019s statehood.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Neither does <strong><u>India, Russia, China<\/u><\/strong> and five European Union countries \u2013 Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Romania and Greece, which have halted its path to EU membership.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It is bordered by Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, Albania to the southwest, and Montenegro to the west.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The capital and largest city of Kosovo is Pristina.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary: Kosovo-Serbia tensions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, after winning a match at the ongoing French Open tennis championship, said: \u201cKosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He was referring to the recent violence in the Kosovan town where Serbian protesters clashed with NATO peacekeepers, leading to more than 60 injuries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the Reason behind current round of violence?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The current round of violence took place after ethnic Serbs tried to prevent Albanian mayors taking charge in local councils.\n<ul>\n<li>Ethnic Serbs are a minority in Kosovo but are in a <u>majority in northern Kosovo<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The Albanians took control of the councils after Serbs boycotted local elections in Kosovo\u2019s north in April.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Results of the elections, which saw a turnout of less than 3.5%, were rejected by the Serbs as a sham.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What was the Kosovo conflict about?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ethnicities at the centre<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Of the 1.8 million people living in Kosovo, <u>92% are Albanian and only 6% Serbian<\/u>.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>The rest are Bosniaks, Gorans, Turks and Roma.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Serbs are Eastern Orthodox Christians, while the Albanians in Kosovo are majority Muslims.<\/li>\n<li>For many Serbians, the Kosovo region, is the heart of its national and religious identity \u2014 and home to numerous cherished mediaeval Serb Orthodox Christian monasteries.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>On the other hand, Kosovo\u2019s majority ethnic Albanians view Kosovo as belonging to them, and accuse Serbia of occupation and repression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Root of conflict: breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The conflict can be traced back to the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>After the disintegration, Kosovo &#8211; a province of the former country &#8211; sought its own autonomy and independence. This was opposed by Serbia.\n<ul>\n<li>As part of Yugoslavia, the republic of Serbia included the regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina held the status of autonomous provinces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Armed clashes<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In 1998<\/strong>, armed clashes broke out between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerrilla group seeking independence, and the Serbian security forces.<\/li>\n<li>The conflict intensified, leading to a significant loss of life and the displacement of thousands of people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>NATO\u2019s intervention<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>International efforts to resolve the conflict was led by the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).\n<ul>\n<li>It resulted in a military intervention in 1999.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>NATO conducted a bombing campaign against Serbian targets and forced the withdrawal of Serbian security forces from Kosovo.<\/li>\n<li>The NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFor) is still based in Kosovo, with a current strength of 3,762.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kosovo unilaterally declared independence<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence.<\/li>\n<li>A total of 99 out of 193 UN countries now recognise Kosovo&#8217;s independence, including the US, the UK and 22 out of 27 European Union (EU) countries.\n<ul>\n<li>But Russia and China (do not recognise Kosovo) have blocked Kosovo&#8217;s membership of the UN.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the Role of Russia in current violence in Kosovo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Complicating matters now is Russia weighing in on the dispute between Kosovo and Serbia.<\/li>\n<li>Russia has a close relationship with Serbia, with many believing that the country\u2019s president, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107, is a proxy for Russia.<\/li>\n<li>Hence, Kosovo feels the threats from Belgrade are serious and can quickly develop into a dangerous situation due to Russia\u2019s influence in Belgrade<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)<\/strong> <strong>Why did Yugoslavia disintegrate?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s was a result of a combination of factors. Nationalism and ethnic conflict, exacerbated by the rise of nationalist sentiments and the desire for self-determination, led to tensions between different ethnic groups. Political instability and the lack of strong leadership after Tito&#8217;s death further contributed to the breakup. Economic challenges, including high inflation and disparities between regions, created grievances. The breakdown of federal institutions and external influences also played a role. These factors, combined with historical grievances and the failure to find peaceful resolutions, eventually led to the disintegration and subsequent wars in the region.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)\u00a0What are Balkan countries??<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Balkan countries, also known as the Balkan Peninsula or simply the Balkans, are a region in southeastern Europe. The term &#8220;Balkans&#8221; refers to the geographic area encompassing several countries that share common historical, cultural, and geopolitical characteristics.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-global\/novak-djokovic-kosovo-heart-serbia-conflict-8642471\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Djokovic said Kosovo is the \u2018heart of Serbia\u2019 \u2014 what is this Balkan story of contesting national claims and deep ethnic divide?<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/62382069\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>BBC<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstpost.com\/explainers\/explained-why-kosovo-serbia-tensions-are-on-the-rise-yet-again-11884141.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>First Post<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/2\/17\/mapping-the-countries-that-recognise-kosovo-as-a-state-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>ALJAZEERA<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kosovo is a partially recognized country situated in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}