Foreign Policy as a Constitutive Element of Statehood and Statehood Prerogative: The case of Kosovo

Of all the post-Yugoslav states, Kosovo is the last to develop and implement its independent foreign policy and service. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008 following the lack of a compromise with Serbia in the UN-led negotiations. Nonetheless, more than six years after its declaration of independence, Kosovo still does not possess all statehood attributes, including external and internal sovereignty. This mainly stems from the issues related to Kosovo’s contested international subjectivity, and the refusal of Serbs from northern Kosovo to be integrated into the political system. As regards the international aspect, Serbia, Russia, Spain and other members of the international community have fiercely opposed Kosovo’s declaration of independence. What is more, the declaration without approval from either Serbia or the Security Council of the UN (UNSC) has resulted in a limited number of recognitions of Kosovo’s independence. Yet, as of October 2014 some 108 UN members have recognized Kosovo, and the new country has succeeded in becoming a member of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Council of Europe Development Bank, as well as some regional bodies, but UN (as well as Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Council of Europe (CoE)) membership is still not in sight.