Review article
https://doi.org/10.31297/hkju.18.1.5
The Multicultural Agenda as Part of Peace- and State-Building in Kosovo: Fictional Peace or Sincere
Remzie Istrefi
orcid.org/0000-0003-4503-7918
; docentica na kolegiju Međunarodnog prava, Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Prištini, Kosovo
Abstract
This article has analysed the modalities of conceiving multiculturalism as part of peace- and state-building processes in post-conflict Kosovo. Following the 1999 conflict in Kosovo and the NATO intervention, international efforts to normalise the situation have been exemplified in legal and political terms. UN SC Resolution 1244 has provided for the protection and promotion of human rights of all the inhabitants of Kosovo. However, human rights violations and animosities between communities as a result of the conflict have necessitated greater ttention towards communities on part of the international community. In legal terms, protection of the communities has been carried out by means of the Constitutional Framework for Kosovo and other by-laws enacted by the UNMIK law-making authorities. The Constitutional Framework instituted the protection of the rights of communities living in Kosovo as a way of respecting and securing the continuous presence of all communities living in Kosovo, as well as acknowledging and valuing their socio-cultural differences. Subsequently, very high human
rights standards for communities were guaranteed in the documents drawn up in the political processes which served as the basis for establishing the statehood of Kosovo. With the declaration of Kosovo’s independence, the rights of ommunities, including their representation and participation in public life, as well as the right to veto certain laws considered to be of vital interest, became a constitutional category. The institution of multiculturalism as a constitutional category by means of legal human rights protection embodied a new orientation towards the future and living with differences on part of Kosovo society. Despite the legal and political undertakings by international and Kosovo authorities, it is questionable if these measures have managed to encourage and enable communities to enhance their contribution to public life in an inclusive cultural context of Kosovo. Communities remain divided with limited participation in public life and the protection of their rights as provided for in the legal framework remains a challenge. Therefore, the analyses in this article have been conducted so as to allow us to discover if the efforts undertaken by international community and
subsequently by the Kosovo authorities as a part of state- and peace-building are only fictional or if they have really managed to enhance the position of communities, and thus contribute to long-lasting peace and reconciliation.
Keywords
multiculturalism; Kosovo; human rights; international communities; peace-building; state-building
Hrčak ID:
197175
URI
Publication date:
28.3.2018.
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