Thread:Kosovan mapper/@comment-27123951-20151030151244/@comment-26045265-20151030210528

Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's  Albanian and Serb populations left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the  Kosovo War of 1998–99. [14]  The war ended with a  military intervention of NATO, which forced the  Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, which became a  UN protectorateunder  UNSCR 1244. On 17 February 2008  Kosovo's Parliament declared independence. It has since gained  diplomatic recognition as a  sovereign state by  108 UN member states. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as a state, [15]  although with the  Brussels Agreement of 2013 it has accepted the legitimacy of Kosovo institutions. The agreement solidified that public institutions in Kosovo are exclusively operated by Kosovo's elected government, and not Serbia's.