Kosovo: The International Community's European Project

This article is about the post-war governance of Kosovo and the contradiction posed by the focus on multi-ethnicity on the one hand, and the development of a new Kosovar identity that transcends ethnicity on the other. Post-war Kosovo represents a bold experiment by the international community to create a society that adheres to European standards. The international administration has based its post-war reconstruction and governance of Kosovo on standards aimed at EU accession. To this end, since 1999 the international administration in Kosovo has pursued multi-ethnicity as a panacea. Far from creating the conditions conducive to greater inter-ethnic integration, the policies enacted supposedly in the name of multi-ethnicity have resulted in the further entrenchment of ethnic division. At the same time, the international administration has promoted a new Kosovo identity that transcends ethnicity and that fits with European standards. This article questions the international administration's approach in governing post-war Kosovo with the ultimate goal of EU accession. It argues that this approach has failed both in creating a more multi-ethnic society and in creating a new identity that is embraced by the people of Kosovo. This situation in turn raises questions as to whether there is a genuine will from the people of Kosovo to fulfil such standards, and therefore whether the goal of EU integration for Kosovo is a realistic one.