- Date of the event
- Place
- Prishtina
- Evidence status
- Evidence status: Documented. Supported by contemporaneous documents, institutional reports or independent studies that corroborate one another.
On 17 February 2008, at an extraordinary meeting in Prishtina, Kosovo's elected leaders declared Kosovo “an independent and sovereign state”. On 22 July 2010 the International Court of Justice gave its opinion that the declaration did not violate international law.
The ICJ's advisory opinion was adopted by 10 votes to 4 and addressed only whether the declaration violated international law [1] [2]. International recognition remains contested.
Historical context
The postwar period and legacy
The end of the war did not end the violence, the grief or the search for truth. This period is treated separately from the armed conflict of 1998–1999.
Read the chapter “After the war: justice, the missing and memory”Sources
- [1]Kuvendi i Kosovës (kopje e arkivuar nga ETH Zürich, ISN). Kosovo Declaration of Independence, 17 February 2008. 2008-02-17. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/125409/8009_Kosovo_Independence.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- [2]Gjykata Ndërkombëtare e Drejtësisë (ICJ). Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in respect of Kosovo — Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 22 July 2010. 2010-07-22. https://www.icj-cij.org/node/103912. Accessed 2026-09-16.