On February 17, 2008, Kosovo, formerly an autonomous province of Serbia within Yugoslavia (a federal state renamed in 2003 the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and then divided in 2006 into two distinct states, Serbia and Montenegro), proclaimed unilaterally its independence with the official name of the Republic of Kosovo. This act came to the conclusion of more than a decade of conflicts between the Albanians of Kosovo, who constituted the great majority of the population in the same province, and the Serbian federal authorities decided to oppose the secession of the Kosovo by any means: in 1990, in fact, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević had annulled the autonomy of the province by canceling all the freedoms traditionally granted to it and by starting systematic discrimination and persecution of the Albanian component. While the peaceful protest of the population of Kosovo increased, the clash was precipitated by the appearance on the scene of the Liberation Army of Kosovo (UÇK), an extremist faction that implemented a terrorist political strategy against the Serbs. Due to the continuous multiplication of episodes of violence on both sides that saw the civilian population of Kosovo dramatically involved, and after the failure of a negotiation attempt, in March 1999 the NATO bombings against Serbia were triggered without the endorsement of the Nations United for the veto imposed in the Security Council by Russia and China. United Nations interim administration mission in Kosovo), entered Kosovo where, however, the clashes between Serb forces and UÇK militants did not cease.

According to Localcollegeexplorer, the climate of tension in the province, where there was no lack of revenge by the Albanians against the Serbian and Roma minorities and clashes with the international military forces, remained high. Between 2002 and 2006, during the presidency of Ibrahim Rugova, historical representative of the Albanians of Kosovo and leader of the moderate political forces of the Democratic League (LDK), the situation remained in delicate balance but upon his death, in 2006, they returned to the most intransigent voices made themselves heard with the two sides perched on their respective positions: the request for Albanian independence was not accepted by the Serbs, who were determined to grant only a statute of autonomy. The legislative elections of November 2007 saw the success, on the more moderate LDK, of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), a formation in which many militants and commanders of the UÇK had converged, including the new Prime Minister H. Thaçi, whose firm intention was known to declare the independence of Kosovo in a very short time.

In fact, on February 17, 2008, the Kosovar Parliament unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia, a decision welcomed by strong opposition and street protests in Belgrade. France, the United States, Great Britain and Albania recognized the new state as early as the following day (followed in this decision by the majority of EU states), while Russia, a traditional ally of Serbia, and also Spain declared themselves opposed to independence. Waiting for a peaceful and joint solution that also involves Serbia, an EU mission, EULEX (European union rule of law mission in Kosovo), was deployed in Kosovo alongside the UNMIK mission already present on the territory, and an international supervision group on Kosovo (ISG, International steering group) was called to evaluate the path towards the independence of the new state, also to prevent the Serbian minority in the northern Kosovo from suffering discrimination and violence. In June 2008 the constitution drawn up by the Kosovar parliament came into force which, in respect of the culture of the minorities, indicated Albanian and Serbian as official languages ​​of the state. In April 2011, after the cancellation of the previous election by the Constitutional Court due to the lack of a quorum, the Kosovar parliament elected Atifete Jahiaga as president of the country, supported by a large coalition of forces and welcomed by the international community. 2012 opened, in a climate of expectation in Pristina and with some concern in the Serbian community, victim of some episodes of violence.