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The partition of Kosovo has been suggested as a solution to the Kosovo issue between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo. The possible partition would be the division of Kosovo along ethnic lines, such as separating Serb-inhabited North Kosovo, and possibly some enclaves in the south, from the rest of Albanian-inhabited Kosovo. The partition was proposed several times, even before the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, although the question has most recently been raised after the North Kosovo crisis.
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However, after the signatory of the 2013 Brussels Agreement between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, Serbia dropped its support for a possible partition of the territory, and agreed to create an association of Serb municipalities in Kosovo. Its assembly will have no legislative authority and the judicial authorities will be integrated and operate within the Kosovo legal framework. The association was expected to be formed in 2015, but opposition riots and a petition signed by over 203,000 citizens slowed it down. The Constitutional Court of Kosovo ruled that the formation of the Association was in compliance with the constitution of Kosovo, but that certain aspects of its proposed implementation were not.
1990s
Serbian politician Dobrica Ćosić stated that "Kosovo can not be preserved. It is realistic to delineate, while retaining the coal [mines] and sanctities".
On April 30, 1999, Margaret Thatcher gave a speech in which she opposed a partition.
2000s
In 2002, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić stated that "Serbia has neither the mechanism nor the resources to reintegrate Kosovo into its legal system, or to create a form in which it will be under its sovereignty. The division of the province, therefore, is nothing else than an attempt to rescue what can still be saved."
The policy of partitioning Kosovo and unification of Republika Srpska with Serbia was seen as offering "long-term security and stability for the region", according to Aleksandar Jokic (2003).
In 2004, Anatol Lieven of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated that the "Partition of Kosovo is the most realistic solution, but the Albanians' insisting on independence will lead to a new conflict." Čedomir Antić of G17 Plus said that the "Partition of Kosmet is not an ideal solution, but it is the maximum that can be obtained at this time." Albanologist Miranda Vickers said that the partition of Kosovo would be the best solution.
In 2005, part of the Serbia-Kosovo negotiation was the Serbian side's call for the establishment of Serb municipalities and constitutional and legal protection of Serbs. UN Special Representative (UNOSEK) Jessen-Petersen and Kosovo speaker Daci reiterated the ruling out of partition. Contact Groups' German representative Michael Scheffer also stressed that there should be no division. CIA Deputy Chief of the Balkan Task Force Steven Meyer stated that "The Government of Serbia should not forget about a division of Kosovo, which no one in the international community would support, nor dismiss as a solution. Changing borders has never been the Holy Scripture of the EU and the UN." Charles A. Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations said that "Giving northern Kosovo, Pristina will be freed from futile attempts to establish rule over a province intending to maintain ties with Belgrade." Serbian intellectual Desimir Tošić said that he supported the option of partition, "but that now there is very little chance, because Serbia will never return to Serbia in the state of 1912, 1918 or 1945."
In 2006, Sanda Rašković-Ivić, President of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija, said that "If both sides, both Serbs and Albanians, face the fact that for both living in cohabitation is impossible, and if the international community is faces the same fact, then a a kind of partition of Kosovo would represent a solution for both sides." Slobodan Samardžić, adviser to the Serbian PM, said that a long-term solution would be partition, "given the fact that the Albanians so far clearly do not want to live with the Serbs."
In 2007, political analyst Andrey Piontkovsky said that "Serbia needs to stand up for the partition of Kosovo with the argument that there are no international forces that can keep Kosovo Serbs safe in an independent Kosovo." Law professor Timothy William Waters said that "The division is possible and it is possible that this is the right thing to do." Erhard Busek said that "the partition of Kosovo is perhaps the least bad solution".
2010s
The Community of Serb Municipalities is planned to be established according to the Brussels Agreement (2013).
Drawing the line
The partition of Kosovo generally refers to dividing Kosovo south of the Ibar River. North of the river is a predominantly ethnic Serb majority area, whereas south of the river is a predominantly ethnic Albanian area. There are also several Kosovo Serb enclaves south of the river Ibar, which have been proposed to be included in a possible partition of Kosovo. North Kosovo is controlled by the 'Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija', a regional government loyal to Belgrade; whereas the rest of Kosovo is administrated by the government of the 'Republic of Kosovo'.