Is Kosovo a State?

In February, Kosovo celebrated its first year of independence. In international terms, Kosovo's score is quite modest. Only 54 of the 192 countries that are UN members have recognized the new entity. The opposition of Russia, permanent member of the Security Council wielding veto power, has blocked its admission to the UN. Even five EU members have refused to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, in spite of the decisive support that the Union is giving to the existence of Kosovo with its EULEX police and judicial mission, which has taken over the administration of law and order from the UN. There are of course political reasons behind the resistance of certain EU members. Countries like Spain fear contagion, i.e. the negative example of a secessionist ethnic group gaining independence thanks to international support, in spite of the opposition of the existing state. Russia backs Serbia, with Chechnya in mind, although it has assisted manu militari Abkhazia's and Ossetia's separatism from Georgia, recognizing them as sovereign nations.

But this is not only about ideological strife, such as the one that kept Communist China out of the UN until the mid-1970s, although it had ruled over the whole Chinese continent since the 1950s. It is the very nature of Kosovo as sovereign entity which is in doubt. A distinctive population and territory do exist, but the effectiveness of its government is uncertain. If it hadn't been for UN Resolution 1244 of 1999, which recalled the principle of the territorial integrity of states (to calm Serbia's apprehension) but put in place a separate administration of the region under international tutelage after NATO military intervention in favor of the Albanian ethnic group, Kosovo would still be part of Serbia. It is NATO that guarantees independence and local government with a 15,000-strong military force. In particular, it protects the Serbian minority living in the North of the country, which is de facto run by Serbia, given the implacable enmity of the 95% Albanian majority of Kosovo's population.

In terms of international law, can a country that is an international protectorate qualify as a sovereign state? Is the will to secede enough for a persecuted minority to constitute a distinct state, and claim and obtain independence? Who decides whether a state exists, and whether it should be acknowledged as such and with what effects? It might sound strange, but on these fundamental requirements there is no agreement in the international community. Kosovo is a limit case that tests the whole political edifice of international law put in place to prevent and regulate conflicts. It is not by coincidence that last fall the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice for an opinion on the existence of the requirements that would make Kosovo a state. Even in case of a pro-independence judicial opinion, it is unlikely that opposing countries will yield and the Balkan statelet will be able to join the other six countries born out of the dissolution of Yugoslavia on the UN seats.