- Date of the event
- Place
- Unknown
- Evidence status
- Evidence status: Documented. Supported by contemporaneous documents, institutional reports or independent studies that corroborate one another.
From 26 to 30 September 1991 Kosovo Albanians held an unofficial referendum on Kosovo as a sovereign, independent state, often voting in private homes to avoid the police. Belgrade did not recognise it; only Albania did.
According to the organisers' figures, reprinted in the diaspora press, turnout was 87.01% and 99.87% voted in favour [1]; Rugova told the ICTY that “98 or 99 per cent” were in favour [2]. These figures were never independently verified.
Historical context
1989–1995
After autonomy was abolished, Kosovo Albanians built parallel institutions and chose peaceful resistance. The strategy kept society alive, but it could not change Kosovo's international position.
Read the chapter “The parallel state and peaceful resistance”Sources
- [1]Behlul Jashari. Kosova para 29 viteve në Referendum për Pavarësi. Dielli | The Sun, 2020-09-26. https://gazetadielli.com/kosova-para-29-viteve-ne-referendum-per-pavaresi-rezultati-pro-9987-per-qind/. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- [2]Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY). Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milošević, Transcript, 3 May 2002 (testimony of Ibrahim Rugova). 2002-05-03. IT-02-54. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/020503IT.htm. Accessed 2026-09-16. — T. 4194
- [3]Helsinki Watch (Human Rights Watch). Yugoslavia: Human Rights Abuses in Kosovo 1990–1992. 1992-10. https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/y/yugoslav/yugo92o.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- [4]Fred Abrahams, Benjamin Ward. Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo. 2001-10-26. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/. Accessed 2026-09-16.