Is Kosovo a Precedent? Legal and International Dilemmas of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of the Kosovo Republic (en translation)

Abstract: On 17th February 2008, the parliamentary body of the temporary authorities of Kosovo adopted a Declaration of Independence and proclaimed that Kosovo should be recognized as an “independent and sovereign country”. At present, 106 countries recognize Kosovo as an independent country (as for 2nd July, 2014). The political dilemmas of the countries of the international community, including the requirement of a legal assessment of the consequences of the unilateral Declaration of Independence of the Kosovo Republic, referred, in fact, to the need to take a stance towards the meaning of and the mutual relations between the basic rules and principles and the institutions of modern international law (ius inter gentes), in particular the problem of setting a precedent in terms of intrastate and international law, respecting the rules of the territorial integrity of states, and issues such as the autonomy of nations, the institution of territorial secession and the recognition of states by other states.