Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija
The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (; ), commonly known as Kosovo and abbreviated to Kosmet or KiM, is an autonomous province defined by the Constitution of Serbia that occupies the southernmost part of Serbia. The territory is the subject of an ongoing political and territorial dispute between Republic of Serbia and the partially recognised Republic of Kosovo, the latter of which has control over the territory. Its claimed administrative capital and largest city is Pristina. The territory of the province, as recognized by Serbian laws, lies in the southern part of Serbia and covers the regions of Kosovo and Metohija. The capital of the province is Pristina. 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 became a United Nations (UN) protectorate in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, but still internationally recognized as part of Serbia. The control was then transferred to the UN administration of UNMIK. On 17 February 2008, representatives of the people of Kosovo () unilaterally and extra-institutionally declared Kosovo's independence, which is internationally recognized by 101 UN members, but not by Serbia, which still regards it as its province. Overview In 1990, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, an autonomous province of Serbia within Yugoslavia, had undergone the anti-bureaucratic revolution by Slobodan Milošević's government which resulted in the reduction of its powers, effectively returning it to its constitutional status of 1971–74. The same year, its Albanian majority—as well as the Republic of Albania—supported the proclamation of an independent Republic of Kosova. Following the end of the Kosovo War 1999, and as a result of NATO intervention, Serbia and the federal government no longer exercised de facto control over the territory. In February 2008, the Republic of Kosovo declared independence. While Serbia has not recognised Kosovo's independence, in the 2013 Brussels Agreement, it abolished all its institutions in the Autonomous Province. , Kosovo's independence is currently recognized by UN member states. In 2013, the Serbian government announced it was dissolving the Serb minority assemblies it had created in northern Kosovo, in order to allow the integration of the Kosovo Serb minority into the general population of Kosovo. History Constitutional changes were made in Yugoslavia in 1990. The parliaments of all Yugoslavian republics and provinces, which until then had MPs only from the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, were dissolved and multi-party elections were held within them. Kosovar Albanians refused to participate in the elections so they held their own unsanctioned elections instead. As election laws required (and still require) turnout higher than 50%, a parliament in Kosovo could not be established. The new constitution abolished the individual provinces' official media, integrating them within the official media of Serbia while still retaining some programs in the Albanian language. The Albanian-language media in Kosovo were suppressed. Funding was withdrawn from state-owned media, including those in the Albanian language