Country report : Serbia
This report has been produced by the CITSEE project (The Europeanisation of Citizenship in the Successor States of the former Yugoslavia) in close cooperation with EUDO CITIZENSHIP. CITSEE is a project based at Edinburgh University Law School and funded by an Advanced Investigator Award for basic research made to Jo Shaw by the European Council.
The Challenge of Building an Independent Citizenship Regime in a Partially Recognised State: The Case of Kosovo
This paper analyses efforts to create an independent citizenship regime in the partially recognised state of Kosovo. It argues that in a situation where there was no previous independent baseline for citizenship, Kosovo opted for the ‘new state’ model in defining and constituting its citizenry. Thus, by defining the new body of citizens in terms of territory and residence (though with certain conditions and limitations), the ‘new born’ state differs substantially from most of other countries that emerged after the dissolution of Yugoslavia. This paper includes a historical account of citizenship policies in the territory of Kosovo, a detailed analysis of the new Kosovar citizenship regime, and an overview of the current political debates related to citizenship.
Nationality and Citizenship in the Former Yugoslavia: From Disintegration to European Integration
In this article the author examines the multiple changes in the nationality and citizenship status of the former citizens of Yugoslavia in three distinct phases between 1991 and 2006. After Yugoslavia’s break‐up, almost all successor states used their citizenship laws as an effective tool of nation‐building and ethnic engineering. The recent democratization of the region under EU influence resulted also in significant improvements in the nationality and citizenship legislations and administrative practices. Nevertheless, this trend depends largely on the further process of EU enlargement and eventual accession of the ex‐Yugoslav states.