page_title: Kosovo Serbs
section_title: 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: Kosovo Serbs / History / 21st century
caption_attribution_description: English: Gazimestan monument. June 28, 2009 Русский: Косово поле. Монумент Видовдан, 2009 Српски / srpski: Gazimestan Monument on Vidovdan, 2009
context_page_description: Kosovo Serbs are one of the ethnic groups of Kosovo. There are around 96,000 Kosovo Serbs as of 2014 and about 3/4 of them live in North Kosovo. Other Serb communities live in southern Kosovo. After Kosovo Albanians, they form the second largest ethnic community in Kosovo.
  The medieval Kingdom of Serbia and the Serbian Empire included parts of the territory of Kosovo with Prizren serving as capital for a time until its subsequent annexation by the Ottomans following the Battle of Kosovo, considered one of the most notable events of Serbian history. Afterwards, it was a part of the Serbian Despotate. Modern Serbian historiography considers Kosovo in this period to be the political, religious and cultural core of the medieval Serbian state. The Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, founded by the Nemanjić dynasty, is a combined World Heritage Site consisting of four Serbian Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries. In the Ottoman period, the situation of the Serbian population in Kosovo went through different phases. In the 16th century, the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was re-established and its status strengthened.
context_section_description: The interim Kosovo government unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on Sunday, 17 February 2008.  Serbia refuses to recognise this declaration of independence. Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence has been recognised by 112 UN countries, and one non-UN country, the Republic of China (Taiwan). The remaining Kosovo Serbs (mostly in North Kosovo) want to remain part of Serbia, but Serbian majority towns are now rare in Kosovo.
  Some officials in the Serbian government have proposed a partition of Kosovo, with North Kosovo and Štrpce becoming part of Serbia or given autonomy. The United States opposes the partition of Kosovo, stressing that the "great majority of countries around the world are not going to stand for that." In response to the seizure of railways in Northern Kosovo and formation of Serbian offices to serve as part of a parallel government, Kosovo's Prime Minister stated that they would "not tolerate any parallel institution on Kosovo's territory" and would assert their authority over all of Kosovo. The UN's Special Representative in Kosovo said the "international community has made it very clear that no partition of Kosovo will be acceptable." Ivan Eland, a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, suggested such "a partition within a partition" would prevent a "Serbia-Kosovo War" and provides the "best chance" of Kosovo having a long-term stable relationship with Serbia. Chairman of the Serb Municipalities of Kosovo Alliance Marko Jakšić dismissed the talk of partition and said the action of Serbs in Kosovo is to protest the Kosovo declaration. Oliver Ivanović, a Kosovo Serb political leader, said he was against Kosovo's partition because "most Serbs live south of the Ibar and their position would become unsustainable". A Reuters analysis suggested that Kosovo may be divided along ethnic lines similar to Bosnia-Herzegovina. James Lyon of the International Crisis Group thinktank was quoted as saying, "the Republika Srpska style is acceptable for Serbia, but within the confines that it (Kosovo) is still part of Serbia." Pieter Feith, the European Union's special representative in Kosovo, and the International Civilian Representative for Kosovo said no plans are under discussion to carve out a canton or grant any other autonomy to Serbs living in the north of Kosovo. He told the Pristina, Kosovo, daily Koha Ditore, "It is quite clear that the privileged relations between the Serbs here (in Kosovo) and Belgrade are in the spheres of education, health care, and religious objects," adding that "the government in Pristina has to be respected."
  On 30 September 2008, Serbian President Boris Tadić stated that he would consider partitioning Kosovo if all other options were exhausted. The former Foreign Minister for Serbia and Montenegro, Goran Svilanović, applauded the suggestion saying "finally this is a realistic approach coming from Serbia. Finally, after several years, there is a room to discuss." After his comments aroused controversy in the media, Tadić reiterated that he was suggesting this as a possibility only if all other options were exhausted. Kosovo's parliamentary speaker, Jakup Krasniqi, condemned any suggestion of partitioning saying, "All of those who aim to divide Kosovo, I want to say, it will end in nothing. Serbs lost their right to Kosovo with the unjust war against the Albanian majority."
  Since the Brussels Agreement of 2013, where Serbia agreed to grant the government in Pristina authority over Kosovo, while Pristina made an agreement to form Community of Serb Municipalities, which has not been fulfilled. Kosovo Serbs have accepted many aspects of Kosovo's rule and Kosovo Serbs now vote on Kosovo central election commission ballots in local elections.
caption: Vidovdan celebration in Gazimestan (2009)
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