The Standards for Kosovo are a set of UN-endorsed benchmarks for the democratic development of
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
. They cover eight key areas of development and include a particular focus on the protection of Kosovo non-Albanian ethnic communities. The Standards address issues of related to functioning democratic institutions,
rule of law
The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
, rights of communities, returns of displaced persons, the economy, dialogue with Belgrade, property rights and the
Kosovo Protection Corps
The Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC; sq, Trupat e Mbrojtjes së Kosovës (TMK)) was a civilian emergency services organisation in Kosovo active from 1999 to 2009.
The KPC was created on September 21, 1999, through the promulgation of UNMIK Regulat ...
.
In 2003, the international community articulated a policy of "Standards before status," whereby it was decided that Kosovo's status would not be addressed until it had met these Standards of
good governance. To meet these goals, Kosovo's
(PISG) created a series of working groups that met regularly to speed progress on the Standards. In 2005, a UN-commissioned report by Norwegian diplomat
Kai Eide
Kai Aage Eide (born 28 February 1949 in Sarpsborg) is a Norwegian diplomat and writer. He was appointed the United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on 7 March ...
assessed that further progress on the Standards would not be possible until Kosovo had clarity about its future status.
In 2006, as the
Kosovo Status Process
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 br ...
was underway, the government of Kosovo (part of the PISG) began to transition its work on the Standards into the more demanding process of meeting standards for
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
as part of the Stabilization and Association Process Tracking Mechanism (STM).
Notes
External links
UNMIK: Standards for Kosovo
Politics of Kosovo
{{Kosovo-poli-stub