Political and professional teams Officials from Kosovo, Serbia, and the EU in Brussels approved the coordinates of the points for the border line for the Kosovo-Serbia border crossings. In 2013, from the approved coordinates for the points of the border line, geodetic measurements were carried out to mark and fix them at: Bernjakë, Jarinje, Merdare, Mutivoda, Dheu i bardhë and Muçibabë, in the presence of teams from: Kosovo, Serbia and EU-EULEX
Commemoration of June 09, 1999
It is worth remembering the end of the war in Kosovo, achieved with the signing of the agreement on 09 June 1999 in Kumanovo, between KFOR (NATO) and the Government of the FRY and the Republic of Serbia, see document no. S/1999/682. Thanks to NATO and the KLA, from that moment on Kosovo was liberated, and Serbia was finally expelled from Kosovo. Of course, even after this date, the commitments for the development and stability of the country continued. The border issue was one of the key topics with the neighbors for mutual recognition. Fortunately, the administrative demarcation lines, the de facto border of the Republics and Provinces in the RSF Yugoslavia were known, measured on the ground and presented with geoinformation.
The topic of the Kosovo-Serbia border, like other issues with Serbia, are always delicate. This is regularly discussed and debated in the media, by various thinkers with or without knowledge of the topic, who bring great uncertainty and confusion to citizens. This issue is as complex as it is sensitive and emotional. In the countries of the Western Balkans, the topic of the border receives a special treatment related to extreme nationalism, at the same time, some declaring themselves "a group defending their lands" while others allegedly do not do such a thing?! Of course, this topic is of state interest, so citizens must also be provided with transparent, fair, reasoned and timely information. The issue of the state border in general is: legal (Constitutional), professional and ultimately depends on political decision-making. Precisely, professionals on a legal and professional basis offer the arguments that force us to move away from desires and from the creation of "paintings fabricated for populist inspiration" and for other purposes through this topic.
Now, in the 21st century, it would be diplomatic hypocrisy if, at international and local levels, only examples of state independence from the 19th century were offered for border demarcation. In that period, when new states were being created in Latin America but not only, information about the border was done by looking “at the tops of hills, of some river and the like”. This was the way or possibility, because there was a lack of maps and geoinformation for that purpose. While at the end of the 20th century and in the first decade of the 21st century, over 20 new states were created only from the dissolution of the SFRY Yugoslavia and the former Soviet Union (USSR). The borders of the Republics and Provinces in the SFRY and the USSR were known as internal borders. Those internal borders are even now presented on the map by the relevant professional geoinformation with the required accuracy. The same rule was applied to the presentation of Kosovo's borders with its neighbors, on maps and with geoinformation. So it would be even worse, less professional and even illegal for Kosovo's border with Serbia, if we do not analyze the examples and documentation from the end of the last century and that of the declaration of independence of our state.
As a reminder, “The dissolution of Yugoslavia brought seven (7) new states. These seven states had administrative borders based on the territory of the Municipalities. Kosovo, a new state, with independence proclaimed through the Declaration of Independence in the Assembly of Kosovo on February 17, 2008, in Pristina, had and has a clearly defined territory with neighboring states. As is known, the neighboring states with the Republic of Kosovo are: North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. The Kosovo - North Macedonia border 167.5km, ratified on October 17.10.2009, 113.6, has also been completed with the establishment of border points on the ground-demarcation. The Kosovo - Albania border 77.9km, is the same one that was demarcated between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Albania, i.e. the points are also established on the ground. The Kosovo - Montenegro border 21km, has The legal and technical procedures have been completed and it has been ratified by the Parliament of Montenegro and the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo on March 2018, 382.6. The law requires that within two years after ratification, the demarcation and establishment of border points on the ground be completed. This last process has not yet begun. The border between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia, with a length of XNUMX km, the demarcation process has not yet begun. For this purpose, the reciprocal state commissions have not been formed either.
Once again, the question arises, which document on the Kosovo-Serbia border will be acceptable and relevant at the tables of International Courts, if one side disputes it?
The KSA of Kosovo, as well as all other constituent units of the SFRY, had their territory defined and marked with markers on the ground and surveyed with geodetic measurements. So the border of Kosovo with Serbia during the SFRY period, and now the border of the Republic of Kosovo, is precisely defined in official Constitutional, legal and technical documentation. It should be emphasized that the documentation as a whole and the geoinformation in particular for the entire territory of the Republic of Kosovo, of course also for the border with Serbia is available from the KSA-Kosovo. To be even more concrete, the geoinformation for the border with Serbia is archived in the local archives in the institutions of the former KSA of Kosovo and the Republic of Kosovo, of course also in international archives.
However, the exact border line for the territory of Kosovo is based on the cadastral model, because we are in the 21st century with sufficient and accurate documentation and geoinformation. The real estate database and geoinformation provide an accurate picture of the boundaries of parcels, the boundaries of cadastral zones, the boundaries of municipalities and the borders of the state, on which the Independence of the Republic of Kosovo was declared. These data remove any dilemma regarding the border line with Serbia, but also with other neighbors. The administrative line between the KSA of Kosovo and the RS of Serbia does not overlap in the reciprocal territory. This clarification means that the administrative line (now the border) of the RS of Serbia is in full compliance with the administrative line (now the border) of the KSA of Kosovo. The entire administrative demarcation line of Kosovo (now the border) is presented on 514 sheets of the cadastral map in the ratio 1:2500. From this analysis, it has been confirmed that there is no overlap of maps and geoinformation from neighbors over the territory of the KSA Kosovo, and vice versa. Neither do the neighbors RS Serbia, RS Macedonia, RS Montenegro, R. of Albania have any overlap of maps and geoinformation of Kosovo, but there is a line of correspondence from both states.
The administrative line, which defined the territory of each of the 6 Republics and 2 Provinces, was a complete measurement process, implemented according to the standards of the RSF Yugoslavia. The legal, technical and political basis for the administrative line of the KSA Kosovo, which was also determined on the ground, and consequently the border between Kosovo and Serbia, is based on the official documentation listed below:
The principles of the administrative borders of the former units of the RSF Yugoslavia were internationally accepted as borders by the Badinter Commission. (See: Alain P. 1992.:The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples. Borders principle in Opinion N3 of Abitration Commission, Badinter commission. Article in European Journal of International Law. January 1992) and were implemented by all former Federal units in the creation of states from the dissolution of the SFRY. Otherwise, wars for territories between the units, states created from the dissolution of the former SFRY would continue.
The establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was determined by the Security Council through Its resolution 1244 (1999). In general, the Mission's mandate was to implement the law to ensure normal living conditions and security within Kosovo. At the same time, through KFOR deployed in Kosovo, to create stability in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. For this purpose, maps of the territory of Kosovo were provided by both Serbia and Kosovo.
The Republic of Kosovo has had its territory defined by border data from official cadastral documentation according to the constitution since 1974, which was also the basis for the Declaration of Independence. The EU (EULEX) officially approved the position of the fixed border crossing points on the ground.
Official political and professional teams from Kosovo, Serbia, and the EU in Brussels approved the coordinates of the border points for the Kosovo-Serbia border crossings. In 2013, from the approved coordinates for the border points, geodetic measurements were carried out to mark and fix them at: Bernjakë, Jarinje, Merdare, Mutivoda, Dheu i bardhë and Muçibabë, in the presence of teams from: Kosovo, Serbia, and the EU-EULEX.
The following photo presents the dialogue team leader Ms. Edita Tahiri and the professional geodetic survey team (author of this analysis) at the Jarinje border crossing point, Leposavić Municipality. This was the case of the demarcation of the Kosovo-Serbia border line, as mentioned above, first approved in the EU offices in Brussels, linked to the “Integrated Border Management” project supervised and financed by the EU. So, in this case, once again officially at the international level, the former border between the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo (SAK), and the Socialist Republic of Serbia (SSR), within the former SFRY of Yugoslavia, was reconfirmed. Consequently, this is the border between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia.
It should be noted that this legal, administrative, technical, cadastral documentation is representative of the tables of local and international courts in the case of demarcation with Serbia and all neighbors. A concrete example is the dispute or dilemma over a part of the Croatia-Slovenia border, for which the request went to the International Court of Arbitration. On June 29, 2017, the International Court of Arbitration, for the resolution of the land demarcation dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, made a decision based entirely on the methodology and cadastral documentation of the two countries. This is directly stated in the decision of that Court (Press Release of the Permanent Court of Arbitration - short (29 June 2017).
The following map shows the points measured with geodetic measurements, fixed on the ground. The centimeter accuracy in the GNSS system of these geodetic measurements for the borders of Kosovo, in this case the border with Serbia, is in full compliance with: the Constitution of the KSA of Kosovo of 1974, the Ahtisaari Package of 2007, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo of 2008, as well as all laws of the Republic of Kosovo.
Finally, the source of data and cadastral geoinformation is archived in the Municipal Cadastre and the Cadastral Agency of the Republic of Kosovo in Pristina and in the RGZ Belgrade. Therefore, the border line of the Republic of Kosovo with the Republic of Serbia is documented in the official documents mentioned above. In any case of eventual dilemmas regarding the border of Kosovo, this documentation is relevant for review by the International Court of Justice.
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