r/europe Lower Saxony (Germany) Aug 28 '17

What do you know about... Kosovo?

This is the thirty-second part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Today's country:

Kosovo

Kosovo is a partially recognized state in the balkan. It belonged to the Ottoman empire from the 15th until the beginning of the 20th century. After being part of Yugoslavia for most of the 20th century, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008. It has been recognized as a country by 111 nations, but Serbia refuses to recognize it as a souverign state. Notable european countries refusing to recognize Kosovo include Spain (because of separatist movements in Spain), Greece and Russia (there are several more, you can check the list linked).

So, what do you know about Kosovo?


Major thanks to /u/our_best_friend, who took care of these threads during my absence.

141 Upvotes

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40

u/Gsonderling Translatio Imperii Aug 29 '17

Should be split between Serbia and Albania.

Now let the down votes come.

11

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

As an Albanian I would support this. It is also the most logical step but will likely never happen.

8

u/Gsonderling Translatio Imperii Aug 29 '17

Give it a decade or two and it will be on the table.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

Serbian deputy PM brought it up recently but the political elite in Prishtina will flat out refuse it as they're the ones who stand to lose the most from such deal. If Kosova unites with Albania it will be a solution imposed from without and most likely from the US with the Turks having somewhat of a say as well. Erdogan thinking of himself as some modern day Sultan will certainly encourage such step. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-14/kosovo-partition-may-solve-historic-dispute-serb-deputy-pm-says

2

u/bekito90 Slovenia Aug 30 '17

Me too, 1% to Serbia 99% to Albania..

3

u/ectoban Europe Aug 29 '17

People need to understand that maybe the Kosovoars don't want to be a part of Albania?

13

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

May I ask - why?

Yes, I know Kosovo isn't allowed to be split/annexed further. But, if it was, wouldn't it make more sense?

Kosovo/Albania get bigger, Albania gets easier access to the mines in Kosovo, Kosovo gets a coast, you're pretty much the same ethnicity, religion and language, the Serbs in Northern Kosovo get back to Serbia... it seems like a win-win to me.

19

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

Pa laze lik lol. Ima dosta pollova u kojima je ocigledno da hoce ujedinjenje svi, i to se zna, ali se satro negira jer kad bi se zalagali za ujedinjenje dok jos nisu dobili samostalnost to bi izgledalo kao aneksija, sto u neku ruku i jeste.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17 edited Apr 25 '20

[deleted]

5

u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Aug 29 '17

Benelux actually used to be a country, just the netherlands. But it split due to other differences, I do not believe there ever was a concept for total reunification.

6

u/EdliA Albania Aug 29 '17

Sure dude. Because tiny poor countries are going to really have a voice in international organizations.

10

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

Except that the majority do

3

u/ectoban Europe Aug 30 '17

Please source this. And don't give me some shit source from 2001, which is right after the wars.

15

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

[deleted]

1

u/ectoban Europe Aug 30 '17

Give me a recent source for this, cause all the Kosovoars I know (And I know a fuckton of them) would vote against unification.

2

u/A3xMlp Rep. Srpska Aug 31 '17

For fucks sake they´re Albanians. Of course they want to unify into a Greater Albania.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '17

[deleted]

1

u/ectoban Europe Aug 31 '17

no, knowing someone isn't a reliable source, but it is an indication especially when all of them say the opposite of these so called polls.

1

u/Realitype Aug 31 '17

Well, you and I seem to know very, very different people then.