European Union Approaches to Human Rights Violations in Kosovo before and after Independence

This article examines European Union (EU) approaches to the question of human rights violations in Kosovo before and after its proclamation of independence, in February 2008. While the 1999 NATO-led humanitarian intervention in the region was often justified as necessary due to the continuous abuses of human rights, perpetrated by the Serbian forces against the ethic Kosovo Albanians, the post-interventionist period has witnessed a dramatic reversal of roles, with the rights of the remaining Serbian minority being regularly abused by the dominant Albanian population. However, in contrast to the former scenario, the Brussels administration has remained quite salient about the post-independence context – a grey zone of unviable political and social components, capable of generating new confrontations and human rights abuses within the borders of Kosovo. Aware of this dynamic and the existing EU official rhetoric, it is possible to conclude that the embedded human rights concerns in Kosovo are not likely to disappear, but even more importantly, their relevance has been significantly eroded

Nationalism, social movement theory and the grass roots movement of Kosovo Serbs, 1985-1988

Ethnic grievances, memories of earlier conflicts and national identities account for the intensity of feelings and support for nationalist collective action, but fail to explain its timing and trajectories. Like other social movements, nationalist movements emerge in response to changes in political context and their development and outcomes largely depend on their protest strategies and location in broader waves of mobilization, in which they are usually embedded. The evidence from local media sources and interviews with participants suggests that the grass roots mobilization of Kosovo Serbs pre-dated the rise of Milošević (Milosevic). Despite interaction, even co-operation with the authorities and dissident intellectuals, the movement remained an autonomous political factor and had a disproportionate impact on political developments in Yugoslavia between 1985 and 1988 - Nebojsa Vladisavljevi