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Government of Kosova

Assembly of Kosova

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general information

Facts and Figures

Kosovo has an area of 10,887 square kilometers (one third the size of Belgium). It is a geographical basin, situated at an altitude of about 500 meters, surrounded by mountains, and divided by a central north/south ridge into two sub-regions of roughly equal size and population.

Detailed demographic data is not available - but the total 1998 population is believed to have been slightly above 2.2 million people, including 82 to 90 percent ethnic Albanians. A large diaspora, mainly in Western Europe, plays an important role, particularly through remittances and the financing of the parallel structures developed throughout the 1990s. Minorities include Serbs, Gorans, Bosnians (Muslim Slavs), Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians and Turks. Demographic growth is estimated at about twenty per thousand and average household size is believed to be about 6 to 7 persons. Kosovo's population is by far the youngest in Europe, with about half the people below the age of 20.

Kosovo is divided into 29 municipalities and about 1,500 villages. It is mainly rural, with about two thirds of the population living in villages, and only nine towns with over 20,000 inhabitants (about 30 percent of the population).

Pre-war Gross Domestic Product is unknown since official estimates (at about US$400 per capita) did not account for a large share of the economy: the informal sector activities. Still, Kosovo was clearly the poorest part of the former FRY.

War impact

The conflict most severely affected housing, agriculture, and telecommunications. About 30 percent of the housing units, both urban and rural, became unusable. More than 50 percent of agricultural assets were reportedly damaged or lost. Key parts of the telecommunications system were destroyed during the conflict. In addition, equipment of all types and personal property were looted extensively.

But physical damage goes much beyond such direct destruction. Infrastructure networks suffered from a decade of lack of maintenance. Rehabilitation costs will be much higher than preliminary assessments of conflict-related damage alone suggested. The "human damage", resulting from both the conflict and the decade under "enforced measures" is widespread, in particular among the younger generation, which has not had proper access to secondary and higher education.

Most institutions had virtually collapsed. In the immediate aftermath of the conflict, most Serb Kosovars left their (often key) positions in utilities, industry or administration. Albanian Kosovars subsequently reclaimed these positions (which they had often held before 1989) - but specialists and skilled workers are still in short supply.

Lastly, little has been done over the last decade to prepare for the transition to a market-oriented economy.

Information about Kosovo

Kosovo was traditionally the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's (SFRY) poorest province and besieged by months of fighting and years of civil strife. Under SFRY's constitution of 1974, Kosovo was a largely autonomous province within the Republic of Serbia. In 1989 and 1990 this status was removed through a series of constitutional changes. While full and reliable economic data for the province remains scarce, it is believed that as a result of a deterioration in the political situation coupled with international economic sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), Kosovo's GDP contracted by 50 percent from 1990-1995, falling to less than $400 per capita by 1995. Economic activity had been centered on industry, predominantly electric power, mining and metallurgy, construction materials and agro processing. Agriculture was also important, responsible for about a third of GDP in 1995.

About 60 percent of the pre-conflict employment was created by agricultural activities (including forestry and agrobusiness). Unemployment was already high, reportedly rising as high as 70 percent in 1995, due to the long-term impact of regional crises. This unemployment rate was disproportionately high among ethnic Albanians.

Although economic activity in Kosovo has made a good start in the past few months, given the entrepreneurial spirit of the Kosovars, along with capital from the Diaspora, conflict related damage is hampering economic growth. This is further compounded by the poor state of infrastructure, inadequate energy supplies and depleted capital stock. In addition, despite a lively restart of informal economic activities in the trade and services sectors, unemployment remains a widespread problem.

Current situation

Kosovo is at one of the most challenging stages of its history and development, when critical steps must be undertaken for the realization of the political will of its citizens for the building of a free, democratic and prosperous society with equal opportunities for all as well as inclusion in the processes of Euro-Atlantic integration. During the past five years Kosovars, the international community, UNMIK and PISG have been through a period of significant achievements: successful conclusion of the emergency post-war stage of reconstruction and gradual overcoming of severe war consequences, free and democratic elections at the central and municipal levels were held and quality steps toward the building of institutions were made. The people of Kosovo have shown the will and energy to rebuild their country. The international community has demonstrated its commitment to realize its role for progress in Kosovo.

However, the transformation from the emergency post-war stage of reconstruction to the stage of sustainable economic and social development is being associated with stagnation in economic growth and worsening the social state, problems with the effectiveness of the governing structures, a slow transfer of competencies from UNMIK to Kosovo institutions, difficulties integrating the Serbian minority and the return of the displaced to Kosovo, the existence of enclaves outside the institutional integrity of Kosovo, the March unrest and its severe consequences, difficulties caused by the official Belgrade policy and the missing persons. All these represent the other side of reality. They show the complexity of the Kosovar reality, but also illustrate stagnation in some spheres and in the continuation of positive processes.

Standards for Kosovo address these issues and compose an agenda to overcome the abovementioned problems. This is a timed and challenging agenda for Kosovar institutions, civil society and UNMIK. The Assembly of Kosovo and the Government of Kosovo, through the free October elections, took the mandate, obligation and responsibility before the citizens of Kosovo to address these challenges in an effective manner and to achieve progress in facing them. This progress will open paths for the materialization of a new stage for the development of Kosovo in accordance with the ambitions of Kosovars and our mandate.

Surveys of the opinion during the last two years have identified the main concerns of the citizens of Kosovo, which in the background of the Kosovar reality and historical heritage unfortunately reflect their national belonging as well; for Albanians and other non-Serb minorities, the main concerns are: the unresolved political and legal status of the country, unemployment and poverty, whereas for Serbs: personal security, inter-ethnic relations and the final status. We have won, not only the mandate from the citizens, but the responsibility to address these problems through effective functioning of the Government and other institutions.

This means that we must achieve significant results, such as:

(a) overcoming insecurity related to the destiny and the future of the country and make significant progress on the process of European integration;

(b) opening our perspective to build an open market economy, competitive economy and sustainable development as the basis for reducing unemployment and poverty;

(c) securing freedom for all citizens, freedom of movement, employment, safety in life and property for all Kosovars, with special emphasis and attention to minorities and the protection of their rights, offering of an active platform for the integration of Serbian minority and free expression of their interests in Kosovar institutions, improvement of inter-ethnic relations and strengthening of mutual trust and respect.