United Nations Mission in Kosovo - Kosovo Final Status Process - 2005

2005

A UN-led political process began in late 2005 to determine Kosovo's future status. Belgrade proposed that Kosovo be highly autonomous and remain a part of Serbia — Belgrade officials repeatedly said that an imposition of Kosovo's independence would be a violation of Serbia's sovereignty and therefore contrary to international law and the UN Charter. Representatives of Kosovo's ethnic-Albanian majority asserted that Kosovo must become independent, arguing that the violence of the Milošević years made continued union between Kosovo and Serbia impossible.

UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland, leads the status process with Austrian diplomat Albert Rohan, his deputy. Ahtisaari's office — the UN Office of the Special Envoy for Kosovo (UNOSEK) — is located in Vienna and includes liaison staff from NATO, the European Union and the United States.