Backgrounder: Status of Kosovo

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The ethnic Albanian-dominated Serb province of Kosovo declared independence Sunday, in defiance of opposition from Serbia and Russia, a traditional Serb ally.

The following are some basic facts about Kosovo's status:

Kosovo was a southern autonomous province within Serbia before the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Among its population of 2 million, over 90 percent are ethnic Albanians and Serbs make up about 7 percent.

Under the 1974 Yugoslav constitution, Kosovo enjoyed the status of an autonomous province within Serbia. The ethnic Albanian majority, however, has been pursuing the independence of Kosovo since the end of the 1980s.

In 1989, the Serbian authorities altered Kosovo's status and removed its autonomy, igniting strong opposition from ethnic Albanians. Tensions between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs worsened.

In 1992, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia disintegrated. The Serb-dominated Yugoslav parliament approved a constitution for a new state comprising only Serbia and Montenegro, and proclaimed the creation of the new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, the Albanian majority in Kosovo announced the founding of independent "Kosovo Republic," which was not recognized by the international community. Kosovo sank into the mire of turbulence.

On March 24, 1999, without the approval of the United Nations, NATO launched airstrikes against Serb forces under the pretext of preventing "humanitarian crises" in the region, and the Kosovo war erupted.

On June 9, 1999, the FRY and NATO signed a military technical agreement on the withdrawal of Serb troops from Kosovo.

On June 10, 1999, the United Nations adopted Security Council resolution 1244, reiterating the FRY's sovereignty over the region and asking all UN members to respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Under the resolution, Kosovo has been administered by a UN mission with the security guarantee of NATO-led peacekeeping forces ever since.

In 2003, the Yugoslav parliament passed a new constitutional charter, dissolving the FRY and creating a country named "Serbia and Montenegro."

Serbia, however, hoped to retain sovereignty over Kosovo while ethnic Albanians demanded its fully independent status rather than the "maximum autonomy" proposed by Serbian President Boris Tadic.

In November 2005, negotiations on the future status of Kosovo were officially launched.

However, no substantive progress was made after several rounds of talks in Vienna, Austria, due to divisions between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians on a wide range of issues.

Last March, UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari proposed internationally supervised independence for Kosovo. But due to Russia's objection, the plan failed to be presented to the UN Security Council for approval.

After that, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon authorized the so-called troika -- the United States, the European Union and Russia -- to launch a new round of talks and gave them a Dec. 10 deadline to complete the negotiations report.

But leaders of Serbia and Kosovo Albanians failed to forge a compromise on the status of Kosovo after several rounds of direct negotiations since last August.

On Dec. 19, 2007, the UN Security Council ended consultations on the future status of Kosovo with no conclusions due to major differences among concerned parties.