EU AND THE RECOGNITION OF KOSOVO – A BRIEF LOOK THROUGH THE LEGITIMACY LENSES
EU AND THE RECOGNITION OF KOSOVO – A BRIEF LOOK THROUGH THE LEGITIMACY LENSES

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the legitimacy of the politics of the European Union after the unilateral declaration of independence of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohia. The decision whether to recognize this act or not was left to individual Member States, and so far 22 out of 27 Member States did recognize Kosovo’s independence. However, the EU foreign and accession policy is largely built on the principle of unanimity of Member States. Despite the fact that, regarding the recognition of Kosovo, such consensus was not achieved, a number of EU bodies and officials act as if it was. This paper demonstrates that these acts are illegitimate, both in terms of lacking the authorization of all Member States and in terms of undermining the established goal of integrating the entire region of Western Balkans into the EU.

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