United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 in the context of "NATO bombing of Yugoslavia"

The political status of Kosovo, also known as the Kosovo question, is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian (and previously, Yugoslav) government and the Government of Kosovo, stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–92) and the ensuing Kosovo War (1998–99). In 1999, the administration of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was handed on an interim basis to the United Nations under the terms of UNSCR 1244, which ended the Kosovo conflict of that year. That resolution reaffirmed Serbia's territorial integrity over Kosovo but required the UN administration to promote the establishment of 'substantial autonomy and self-government' for Kosovo, pending a 'final settlement' for negotiation between the parties.

The UN-sponsored talks began in February 2006, and though no agreement was reached between the parties, a proposal from UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari was presented in May 2007, which recommended 'supervised independence' for the province. After several weeks of discussions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European members of the United Nations Security Council formally 'discarded' a draft resolution backing the Ahtisaari Plan on 20 July 2007, as they had failed to secure Russian backing.

The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force and military of Kosovo. KFOR is the third security responder, after the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law (EULEX) mission, respectively, with whom NATO peacekeeping forces work in close coordination. Its operations are gradually reducing until the Kosovo Security Force, established in 2009, becomes self-sufficient.

KFOR entered Kosovo on 12 June 1999, one day after the United Nations Security Council adopted the UNSC Resolution 1244. At the time, Kosovo was facing a grave humanitarian crisis, with the Yugoslav Army in action against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in daily engagements. Nearly one million people had fled Kosovo as refugees by that time, many of whom left permanently.

The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (Serbian: Косово и Метохиja, romanized: Kosovo i Metohija; Albanian: Kosova dhe Metohia), commonly known as Kosovo (Serbian: Косово; Albanian: Kosova) and abbreviated to Kosmet (from Kosovo and Metohija; Serbian: Космет) or KiM (Serbian: КиМ), is an autonomous province that occupies the southernmost corner of Serbia. However, the territory is the subject of an ongoing political and territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the partially recognised Government of Kosovo, with the APKM being viewed as the de jure interpretation of the territory under Serbian law; however, the Serbian government currently does not control the territories because they are administered by the Republic of Kosovo. Its claimed administrative capital and largest city is Pristina.

The territory of the province, as defined by Serbian laws, lies in the southern part of Serbia and covers the regions of Kosovo and Metohija. The territory was previously an autonomous province of Serbia during Socialist Yugoslavia (1946–1990), and acquired its current status in 1990. The province was governed as part of Serbia until the Kosovo War (1998–99), when it came under United Nations (UN) administration in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, but still remained internationally recognized as part of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 17 February 2008, representatives of the people of Kosovo (Albanian: Udhëheqësit e popullit tonë, të zgjedhur në mënyrë demokratike) unilaterally and extra-institutionally declared Kosovo's independence, which is internationally recognized by 108 UN members. While it is de facto independent from Serbia, Serbia still regards it as its province.

The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK; Albanian: Misioni i Administratës së Përkohshme të Kombeve të Bashkuara në Kosovë; Serbian: Привремена административна мисија Уједињених нација на Косову, romanized: Privremena administrativna misija Ujedinjenih nacija na Kosovu) is an officially mandated United Nations mission in Kosovo. UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall objective, namely, to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants of Kosovo and advance regional stability in the Western Balkans."

The UNMIK was established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1244, which was passed on 10 June 1999. The Resolution authorised an international civil and military presence in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In that Resolution, the UN decided to "[deploy] in Kosovo, under United Nations auspices, [an] international civil and security [presence]".

Kosovo is the birthplace of the Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis of 1878. In the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Ottoman war, the Congress of Berlin proposed partitioning Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. The League of Prizren was formed by Albanians to resist those impositions. For Albanians those events have made Kosovo an important place regarding the emergence of Albanian nationalism. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights culminated in two revolts within Kosovo and adjacent areas. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to Kosovo stressing Albanian language, culture, and identity within the context of secession from Serbia. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when part of Kosovo was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.

Reincorporated within Yugoslavia, Albanian nationalism in Kosovo has drawn upon Kosovar folk culture and traditions which became imbued with theories of descent from ancient Illyrians and Dardanians stressing the purported precedence of Albanian settlement and rights to the area over the Serbs. Traditions of armed resistance by local Albanians to Serbian forces have existed since the interwar period resulting in various and protracted conflicts, ethnic cleansing and violence on both sides. The most recent was the Kosovo War (1999) between the guerilla fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Yugoslav army who later were evicted from Kosovo through NATO military intervention. Placed under an international United Nations framework, Kosovar Albanians declared independence (2008) which is internationally recognised by some number of countries satisfying a main tenet of Kosovar Albanian nationalism. Albanian nationalism in Kosovo stresses a secular character sidelining religion.

The accession of Kosovo to the European Union (EU) is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU. Kosovo is currently recognized by the EU as a potential candidate for accession.

Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia was enacted on 17 February 2008 by a vote of members of the Assembly of Kosovo. Independence has not been recognised by Serbia, or five out of 27 EU member states, and as a result the European Union itself refers only to "Kosovo", with an asterisked footnote containing the text agreed to by the Belgrade–Pristina negotiations: "This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence." This has not prevented Kosovo from continuing its EU enacted Stabilisation Tracking Mechanism (STM) programme, aiming to gradually integrate its national policies on legal, economic and social matters with the EU, so that at some point in the future Kosovo could qualify for EU membership.

United Nations Administered Kosovo refers to the period when the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo was directly responsible for the governance of Kosovo between 1999 and 2008. This period began on 10 June 1999 with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and effectively ended on 17 February 2008 with the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo.