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1 (July 19, 2005)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaabtr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21721 Updated July 19, 2005 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Kosovo's Future Status and U.S. Policy Steven Woehrel Specialist in European Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary The future status of Kosovo is perhaps the most sensitive and potentially destabilizing political question in the Balkans. The Administration views getting Kosovo right as key to integrating the Balkans into Euro-Atlantic institutions. This report discusses the issue of Kosovo's future status; that is, whether it should become an independent country, or have some form of autonomy within Serbia. Talks on Kosovo's status could start in fall 2005, if Kosovo is deemed to have made sufficient progress on a set of standards established by the international community. The 109th Congress may consider legislation on Kosovo's status. This report will be updated as events warrant. For more on the current situation in Kosovo, see CRS Report RL31053, Kosovo and U.S. Policy. Background The current status ofKosovo is governed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, passed in June 1999 at the end of the Kosovo conflict. The resolution authorizes an international military and civilian presence in Kosovo, the duration of which is at the discretion of the Security Council. The NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR is charged with maintaining a secure environment, while the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is given the chief role in administering Kosovo on a provisional basis. The resolution provides for an interim period of autonomy for Kosovo of undefined length, until negotiations on the future status of the province take place. UNMIK is tasked with gradually transferring its administrative responsibilities to elected, interim autonomous government institutions, while retaining an oversight role. In a future stage, UNMIK will oversee the transfer of authority from the interim autonomous institutions to permanent ones, after Kosovo's future status is determined. UNSC Resolution 1244 provides little insight into how the status issue should be resolved, saying only that it should be determined by an unspecified political process. However, the resolution explicitly confirms the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (consisting of Serbia and neighboring Montenegro) and calls for substantial autonomy for Kosovo within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The FRY was dissolved in February 2003, replaced with a looser state union entitled Serbia Congressional Research Service 4o The Library of Congress

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