Description
In 2023, unrest, violent demonstrations, and terrorist attacks by Serbian paramilitaries against Kosovo police shook the North of Kosovo, a region with a Serbian majority population. International Organizations and diplomatic actors have condemned these acts of violence, which have led to injured NATO personnel, killed police officers and fighters, putting immense pressure on the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to support stabilization. A superficial analysis would confirm the set-up in Northern Kosovo as a conflict zone between the Kosovo-Albanian dominated government in Pristina, and Serbian actors in the region, for example on elections and autonomy, amidst benevolent peacebuilding efforts by the EU, NATO, and the UN. However, after nearly twenty-five years of international presence in Northern Kosovo, based on the robust UN Security Council Resolution 1244, and after a decade of EU-led dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, this set-up should be critically revised. Approaching the situation with broader theories of violence, peacebuilding in the region has not only failed, but has instead enabled the continuity and even emergence of forms of violence. The presentation will illustrate these with reflections on criminal and organized violence, the acceptance of so-called parallel structures, and the failure of political authority on the ground.
