Kosovo Issues - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

NATO-led Kosovo Force peacekeepers under UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo authority continue to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all Kosovo citizens

Kosovo-Albania: none identified

Kosovo-Montenegro: their 2015 demarcation agreement was ratified by Montenegro in December 2015 and by Kosovo in March 2018, but the actual demarcation has not been completed; as of March 2021, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin KURTI said that after the new Montenegrin government is formed, he would broach the subject of reopening the agreement

Kosovo-North Macedonia: Kosovo and North Macedonia completed demarcation of their boundary in September 2008; both countries ratified the demarcation documents on October 17, 2009, after high-level consultations resolved the disputed section of border around Debelde/Tanusevci

Kosovo-Serbia: Serbia with several other states protest the US’s and other countries’ recognition of Kosovo's declaration of its status as a sovereign and independent state in February 2008; ethnic Serbian municipalities along Kosovo's northern border challenge final status of Kosovo-Serbia boundary; Kosovo’s and Serbia’s temporary agreement on license plates expired on 21 April 2022; the two countries are meeting on 13 May to reach a permanent agreement

 

Refugees and internally displaced persons

IDPs: 16,000 (primarily ethnic Serbs displaced during the 1998-1999 war fearing reprisals from the majority ethnic-Albanian population; a smaller number of ethnic Serbs, Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians fled their homes in 2004 as a result of violence) (2021)

note: 8,884 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-May 2023)

NOTE: The information regarding Kosovo on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kosovo 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kosovo 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.