Косово и Метохија – изазови и одговори
Kosovo and Metohia – Challenges and Answers

Author(s): Radoslav Gaćinović
Subject(s): Civil Society, Public Administration, Inter-Ethnic Relations, Politics of History/Memory, Politics and Identity
Published by: Institut za uporedno pravo
Keywords: defter; account book; register; tax roll
Summary/Abstract: The region of Kosovo and Metohia is a center of Serbian history and the state formation, as well as a central territory of medieval Serbian state. This region covers 10887 square kilometers, or 12, 3 % of the whole state territory of Serbia. Looking from the geopolitical and geo-strategic aspect, so far the region of Kosovo and Metohia has been a security macro-rampart of Serbia. Even though the United States of America together with her allies has used all means prohibited by international law to seize Kosovo and Metohia, looking from political and legal aspect, Kosovo and Metohia can never exist as an independent state, due to the fact that there have never been elements present for formation of Albanian statehood on this part of Serbian territory. It was not Serbia who had defined the state borders with her neighboring states, but the international community, who did it on the basis of ethnic structure of the population and Turkish (“defter”)* books. These borders were determined on the London Conference in 1913, and after the revision they were finally confirmed on the Florence Conference in 26 July, 1926. Serbia holds legal and historical right to Kosovo and Metohia, which has been older than ethnic right. It is also supported by international law, because of the United Nations Charter’s ban on forceful seizure of territorial parts of sovereign states.

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