Assembly of Kosovo
Encyclopedia
The Assembly of Kosovo was originally established by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...

 in 2001 to provide 'provisional, democratic self-government'.

On February 17, 2008, individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo (acting in personal capacity and not binding the Assembly itself), declared that Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

 is independent from Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

 and subsequently adopted a constitution, which came into effect on 15 June 2008.

The Assembly of the new Republic of Kosovo is regulated by the Constitution of Kosovo
Constitution of Kosovo
The Constitution of Kosovo currently refers either to the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo or to the Constitutional Framework for the Provisional Self-Government of Kosovo....

 and has 120 members; of these, 100 are directly voted into the Assembly whilst the rest are reserved as follows:
  • 10 seats for the representatives of the Serbs
    Serbs
    The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

    .
  • 4 seats for the representatives of the Roma, Ashkali
    Ashkali
    In the Balkans, the Ashkali and Egyptians are Albanian-speaking ethnic minorities of Kosovo and Albania. Observers consider them Albanized Romanies, but they do not self-identify as such...

     and Egyptians.
  • 3 seats for the Bosniaks
    Bosniaks
    The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

    , Montenegrins, Croats, Hungarians, Toskan
  • 2 seats for the Turks
    Turkish people
    Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

    .
  • 1 seat for the Gorans
    Gorani (Kosovo)
    The Gorani or Goranci are a South Slavic ethnic group inhabiting the Gora region of the Balkans, located at the triangle between Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. Another autonym of this people is "Našinci" with literally meaning "our people"...

    .

Committees

The Kosovo Assembly has 19 committees:
  • Budget Committee
  • Committee for Finance and Economy
  • Committee for Education, Science and Technology
  • Committee for Health
  • Committee for Labour and Social Welfare
  • Committee for Public Services
  • Committee on International Co-operation
  • Committee on Judicial, Legislative and Constitutional Framework Matters
  • Committee on Missing Persons – it is a relatively unique committee that deals with the issue of large number of missing persons and prisoners of war as a result of the Kosovo War
    Kosovo War
    The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...

    .
  • Committee on Media
  • Committee on the Rights and Interests of Communities
  • Committee for Trade and Industry
  • Committee for Culture, Youth and Sports
  • Committee for Environment and Spatial Planning
  • Committee for Transport and Communications
  • Committee for Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development
  • Committee on Emergency Preparedness
  • Committee on Public Petitions and Claims
  • Committee on Gender Equality

Election results

Most of the Serbs boycotted the elections, resulting in a less than 1% turnout of the Serbian population. It is still unclear whether the seats reserved for the Serbian ethnic group will be taken.

External links

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