ABSTRACT
On 17 February 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Amidst vociferous opposition from Serbia and Russia in particular, the declaration failed to resolve Kosovo’s political and legal status, which had been contested since Kosovo was placed under international administration by the UN Security Council in the aftermath of NATO’s 1999 war against Serbia. 1 While its statehood was recognised by 75 countries by March 2011, including the US, 22 EU member states, and by all of its neighbours except Serbia, the territory formally remains under UN administration as Russian opposition in particular has prevented the closure of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and has made UN membership, the collective recognition of statehood, a remote prospect. The non-recognition by five EU member states 2 has complicated the EU’s engagement with Kosovo, and has hampered the application of its statebuilding and integration processes successfully applied to neighbouring countries such as Macedonia (see Kristof Bender’s chapter in this volume).
