Republic of Kosova#Proclamation

{{See|Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija}}

{{See also|Prewar period (Kosovo)}}

Late in June 1990, Ethnic Albanian members of the provincial assembly proposed a vote on whether to form an independent republic; the ethnic Serb president of the assembly immediately shut it down and promised to reopen the assembly on 2 July, which was later postponed.

On 2 July, the vast majority of Ethnic Albanian members of the Provincial Assembly returned to the Assembly, but it had been locked; so in the street outside they voted to declare Kosovo a Republic within the Yugoslav federation.{{cite book |last1=Malcolm |first1=Noel |title=Kosovo: a short history |date=1999 |publisher=HarperPerennial |location=New York |isbn=9780060977757 |page=346}} The Serbian government responded by dissolving the Assembly and the government of Kosovo, removing any remaining autonomy. The Serb government then passed another law on labour relations which dismissed another 80,000 Ethnic Albanian workers.{{Cite web |title=ON THE RECORD: //Civil Society in Kosovo// - Volume 9, Issue 1 - August 30, 1999 - THE BIRTH AND REBIRTH OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN KOSOVO - PART ONE: REPRESSION AND RESISTANCE |url=http://www.bndlg.de/~wplarre/back337.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111160914/http://www.bndlg.de/%7Ewplarre/back337.htm |archive-date=11 November 2007 |access-date=21 February 2008}}

Ethnic Albanian members of the now officially dissolved Kosovo Assembly met in secret in Kaçanik on 7 September and declared the "Republic of Kosova" in which laws from Yugoslavia would only be valid if compatible with the Republic's constitution. The assembly went on to declare the "Republic of Kosova" an independent state on 22 September 1991.{{cite journal|first1=Jure |last1=Vidmar |title=International Legal Responses to Kosovo's Declaration of Independence |journal=Vanderbilt Law Review |volume=42 |issue=3 |page=779 |date=2021 |url= https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vjtl/vol42/iss3/2 |access-date=17 January 2023}} This declaration was endorsed by 99% of voters in an unofficial referendum held a few days later.{{cite web |last1=Müller |first1=Beat |title=Kosovo (Jugoslawien), 30 September 1991: Unabhängigkeit |url= https://www.sudd.ch/event.php?lang=en&id=ks011991 |website=sudd.ch |date=30 September 1991 |language=de |access-date=17 January 2023}} The Republic of Kosova received diplomatic recognition from Albania. Serb authorities rejected the election results, and tried to capture and prosecute those who had voted.{{Cite book |last=Malcolm |first=Noel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGQ_AQAAIAAJ |title=Kosovo: A Short History |date=1998 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-66612-8 |page=347 |language=en}} In 1995, thousands of Serb refugees from Croatia were settled in Kosovo, which further worsened relations between the two communities.{{Cite web |title=Balkan Returns: An Overview of Refugee Returns and Minority Repatriation |url=https://www.usip.org/publications/1999/12/balkan-returns-overview-refugee-returns-and-minority-repatriation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205195725/https://www.usip.org/publications/1999/12/balkan-returns-overview-refugee-returns-and-minority-repatriation |archive-date=5 December 2022 |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=United States Institute of Peace |language=en}}

Kosovo Albanians organized a resistance movement, creating a number of parallel structures in education, medical care, and taxation.{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Howard |title=Civil Resistance in Kosovo |date=2000 |publisher=Pluto Press |isbn=0745315690 |location=London |page=Back side}} New schools opened, with houses being turned into facilities for schools, including high schools and universities. During parallel elections, new leaders were elected, forming a new country within a country. Because of the repression, the new government had its seat in exile. There was a parallel football league, following all the sports men and women being expelled from the stadiums and sports facilities.{{cite web |last1=Demi |first1=Agron |title=How to build a parallel state |url= https://prishtinainsight.com/build-parallel-state-mag/ |website=prishtinainsight.com |date=19 April 2018 |access-date=17 January 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Pula |first1=Besnik |title=The emergence of the Kosovo "parallel state," 1988–1992 |journal=Nationalities Papers |date=1 January 2004 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=797–826 |doi=10.1080/0090599042000296131 |s2cid=154818009 |url= https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0090599042000296131?src=recsys&journalCode=cnap20 |access-date=17 January 2023|url-access=subscription }}

{{Main|Insurgency in Kosovo (1995–1998) |Kosovo War}}

From 1995 onwards, tensions in the region escalated leading to the Kosovo War which began in February 1998,{{cite book |author=Independent International Commission on Kosovo |url= https://www.law.umich.edu/facultyhome/drwcasebook/Documents/Documents/The%20Kosovo%20Report%20and%20Update.pdf |title=The Kosovo Report |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=9780199243099 |location=Oxford |page=2}}{{cite book |last=Quackenbush |first=Stephen L. |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l9c5DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 |title=International Conflict: Logic and Evidence |publisher=Sage |year=2015 |isbn=9781452240985 |location=Los Angeles |page=202}}{{Cite web |date=June 1999 |title=Roots of the Insurgency in Kosovo |url=https://www.ausa.org/sites/default/files/BB-82-Roots-of-the-Insurgency-in-Kosovo.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625175227/https://www.ausa.org/sites/default/files/BB-82-Roots-of-the-Insurgency-in-Kosovo.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-25 |access-date=2020-08-08}} fought between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrilla force.{{cite book |first=Misha |last=Glenny |date=2012 |title=The Balkans |location=US |publisher=Penguin Books |page=652 |isbn=9780142422564}} The KLA-led campaign continued into January 1999 and was brought to the attention of the world media by the Račak massacre, the mass killing of about 45 Albanians (Including 9 KLA insurgents)Judah 2000, p. 193 by Serbian security forces.{{cite web |last=Strauss |first=Julius |date=30 June 2001 |title=Massacre that started long haul to justice |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1312900/Massacre-that-started-long-haul-to-justice.html |publisher=Telegraph.co.uk |access-date=17 January 2023}} An international conference was held in Rambouillet, France later that spring and resulted in a proposed peace agreement, called the Rambouillet Agreement, which was accepted by the ethnic Albanian side but rejected by the Yugoslav government.{{cite journal |last=Suy |first=Eric |date=2000 |title=NATO's Intervention in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |url= https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/natos-intervention-in-the-federal-republic-of-yugoslavia/0ABB9520FBC5FD26A849699480A48D09 |journal=Leiden Journal of International Law |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=193–205 |doi=10.1017/S0922156500000133 |access-date=17 January 2023 |s2cid=145232986|url-access=subscription }}

The failure of the talks at Rambouillet resulted in a NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia lasting from 24 March to 10 June{{Cite web |date=2016-10-26 |title=NATO & Kosovo: Index Page |url=https://www.nato.int/kosovo/all-frce.htm#pb |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912233627/http://www.nato.int/kosovo/all-frce.htm#pb |archive-date=2016-09-12 |access-date= }} when the Yugoslav authorities signed a military technical agreement. NATO-led international peacekeepers established the Kosovo Force (KFOR) and an international civilian mission was established by the name of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission (UNMIK),{{cite news |date=10 June 1999 |title=Security Council, welcoming Yugoslavia's acceptance of peace principles, authorises civil, security presence in Kosovo |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1999/19990610.SC6686.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203074058/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1999/19990610.SC6686.html |archive-date=3 February 2014 |access-date=25 November 2022 |publisher=United Nations}}{{cite web |title=RESOLUTION 1244 (1999) |url=https://undocs.org/S/RES/1244(1999) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308040644/https://undocs.org/S/RES/1244(1999) |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=9 March 2017 |website=undocs.org |language=en}} which entered Kosovo on 11 June 1999.{{Cite web |title=Defense.gov News Article: Larger Kosovo Force Takes to Field |url=http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=42742 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930032502/http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=42742 |archive-date=30 September 2017 |access-date=2017-04-08 |website=archive.defense.gov |language=en}}

UNMIK assumed control of Kosovo. A Joint Interim Administrative Structure was established to allow Kosovo political and community leaders to be represented in decisions. The KLA was disbanded and replaced by the Kosovo Protection Corps, a lightly armed civilian emergency response organization.{{cite book |author=Imogen Bell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4CrpzRJCbckC&pg=PA633 |title=Central and South-Eastern Europe 2003 |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-85743-136-0 |pages=633–}} On 31 January 2000, the interim administration in Kosovo was recognized, officially ending the Republic of Kosova.

{{Main|Flag of the Republic of Kosova}}

The flag used by the Republic of Kosova was very similar to the flag of Albania, depicting a variant of the emblem on the same colored background.

• Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosova
• Kosovo Liberation Army

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Judah |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVf1na3FN_UC&q=Tim+Judah |title=Kosovo: War and Revenge |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0300097255 |ref=Judah |access-date=17 February 2013}}

Category:Independence of Kosovo

Category:1990 establishments in Kosovo

Category:1999 disestablishments in Kosovo

Category:States and territories established in 1990

Category:States and territories disestablished in 1999