Talks initiated by the UN in 2005 on the future of Kosovo led in 2007 to a plan, submitted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, that laid the groundwork for self-rule but stopped just short of full independence. Rapid endorsement of the plan by Kosovar Albanians was countered with intransigent opposition from the Serbian government. Months of further talks between Serbian and Kosovar leaders failed to resolve Kosovo’s future status, and by early 2008 Kosovo was determined to secede.

On February 17, 2008, Kosovo formally declared independence. Serbia, backed by Russia, called the declaration illegal. Serbs living in Kosovo largely opposed Kosovar independence as well; they soon elected their own assembly as a direct challenge to Kosovo’s new constitution, which took effect in June. In October the UN General Assembly, following a request by Serbia, submitted the question of the legality of Kosovo’s independence to the International Court of Justice. Meanwhile, Russian objections postponed the withdrawal of the UN mission, which ultimately was expected to transfer its powers of oversight to the European Union (EU). The EU finally deployed its mission, known as Eulex, in December. Eulex, made up of about 2,000 officials from a number of European countries, would oversee police, judicial, and customs activities in Kosovo.

In November 2009, in what many viewed as a test of its commitment to democracy, Kosovo held its first elections since independence. International monitors determined that the process, conducted on the municipal level, was peaceful and, in general, fair, despite the refusal of many of the remaining Serbs to participate. By 2010 a new World Bank loan promised to address the problem of real estate registry (a proper system was needed to ensure transparent property transactions and to protect minority property rights), but a June report of the Council of Europe expressed continuing international concern over the wider judicial reform that would be needed to establish the rule of law. The same concerns informed the decision of the EU to extend the Eulex mission for two years, through mid-2012. The July 2010 decision of the International Court of Justice to recognize Kosovo’s declaration of independence was expected to strengthen the determination of the Kosovar Albanian government and the Eulex authorities, as well to consolidate Kosovo’s sovereignty within its declared borders—largely if not unanimously recognized by the international community.

Meanwhile, the status of the small Serb minority remained unsettled, and the government in Pristina continued to face difficulty in establishing authority over the Serb-dominated areas north of the Ibër (Ibar) River. Obviously unsettled as well were relations with Serbia, still a major trading partner. However, Serbia’s support of a UN resolution passed in September 2010, which called for EU-mediated talks between Serbia and Kosovo, offered some hope for the normalization of relations.

Kosovo’s level of unemployment continued to exceed 40 percent, but economic growth persisted—although at a reduced pace given the international financial crisis that began in 2008 and the attendant drop in remittances sent back from abroad. Still missing was sizeable direct foreign investment, which at some point will be needed to replace the substantial aid—more than $3 billion since 1999—provided by the United States and Europe. A young population and a variety of mineral deposits are nonetheless resources to be tapped if Kosovo’s political leadership can respond to the challenges of domestic reform and international accommodation.

In November 2010 the Assembly of Kosovo overwhelmingly passed a motion of no confidence in the country’s minority government, led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosovës; PDK), prompting the dissolution of the body and the scheduling of elections. The fall of the government followed the September resignation of Pres. Fatmir Sejdiu, who in October withdrew his Democratic League of Kosovo (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës; LDK) from the coalition that had governed Kosovo since independence. The elections, held in December 2010, returned the PDK to power, and Thaçi remained prime minister. Although there were reports of widespread voting irregularities, a revote in January 2011 affirmed the earlier results.

Unrest continued in northern Kosovo throughout 2011, as ethnic Serbs, with the support of Serbia, created parallel institutions in defiance of the Kosovar government in Pristina. EU police and some 6,000 NATO troops maintained an uneasy peace in the region, and tensions sometimes erupted into violence. Nevertheless, negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia continued throughout the year in an effort to normalize relations between them. Although the unemployment rate in Kosovo approached 50 percent and organized crime and corruption remained endemic problems, the European Commission determined in late 2012 that the country had made sufficient progress to begin negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement—a critical step toward accession to the EU. In April 2013 Kosovo and Serbia reached a milestone agreement that granted a degree of autonomy to ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo in exchange for de facto recognition of Kosovo’s authority in the region. Serbian negotiators stopped short of recognizing Kosovo’s independence, however.

Political gridlock following a general election in June 2014 hampered the EU reform agenda, and six months passed before a new government could be formed. A compromise between the LDK and PDK was reached in December, whereby LDK leader Isa Mustafa was made prime minister. Thaçi was named deputy prime minister and foreign minister, with both parties agreeing that he would become president in 2016, upon the conclusion of Atifete Jahjaga’s term in that office.

In August 2015 Kosovo and Serbia made great strides in normalizing their relations. The two countries concluded negotiations that addressed energy and telecommunications issues, with Kosovo gaining its own international telephone prefix, and Serb communities within Kosovo being granted a measure of autonomy. Backlash against the EU-brokered deal was intense, and in October opposition lawmakers set off tear-gas canisters on the floor of parliament in protest. Later that month Kosovo concluded a long-desired Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU. Although EU officials stated that additional political and economic reforms would be necessary before full accession could be considered, some $700 million in developmental aid was made available to Kosovo to achieve those goals.