Kosovo, some Aspects of the Status Transition Process

by Vujo Ilic

Serbia and Kosovo are about to put their relations on a new foundation. During 2006, the negotiations for determining the status of Kosovo take place. However, the demands of policy makers' on both sides towards sovereignty are unchanged since the period before 2000. These claims are explained through the dominant pursue of state interests and national interests. A difficult zero-sum situation occurs, where a compromise reached through exchanges seems impossible. If a compromise is not reached, the two sides would be confronted with a solution, imposed by the international community. The sides would benefit to different degrees from this, depending on the positions they built before and during the negotiating process. The purpose of this paper is to examine the logics of policies that led to this situation.