Tulsyan 1

Harsh Tulsyan

Prateek Santram

MYP 5 Integrated Humanities

08 December 2022

Honour Pledge: On my honour, I pledge that I will neither give nor receive improper

assistance in completing this task – Harsh Tulsyan

Speech for UN General Assembly - Kosovo

Good morning to everyone present here in the UN General Assembly. Today I am

going to talk about Kosovo, its statehood status and eligibility for admission in the United

Nations. I think that Kosovo is a nation state. Kosovo is a landlocked region in the Balkans

region in Europe. It is bordered by Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Montenegro

(Allcock). Kosovo was formed in 2008. It has had many problems with Serbia in the past

including a war which was caused due to Kosovo asking for independence (Allcock). Kosovo

was granted independence in 2010 by the International Court of Justice (Allcock).

According to the Montevideo Convention of 1933, a state is defined as a nation state if it has

a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into

relations with other states (Oslo). Kosovo successfully completes the criteria of having a

permanent population. At the start of 2021, the population of Kosovo was estimated to be

around 1.767 million (CountryMeters). As of January 2022, the population of Kosovo

increased to 1.768 million which is a 0.06% increase. It is estimated that by 2023, the

population of Kosovo will reach 1.77 million (CountryMeters). This shows that Kosovo has a

permanent increasing population. Kosovo also does have a defined territory as it got

independence from Serbia in 2008. In this independence, Kosovo got its boundary which

separated it from Serbia (Journal).

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Now coming to the more important parts; a government and the capacity to enter into

relations with other states. Kosovo has a fully functioning government. Since Kosovo gained

its independence in 2008, it immediately created a constitution called the Constitution of the

Republic of Kosovo on June 15th, 2008, (Britannica). This constitution was created in an

assembly called the Kosovar assembly. The Serbian people in Kosovo rejected this

government, but since Kosovo received its independence, they got to keep the government.

This government comprises of a president who is the head of the state and a prime minister,

who is the head of the government. The elections happen every 5 years. Lastly, this

government has all the 3 branches: executive, legislature, and judiciary.

Kosovo currently manages 33 foreign embassies and hosts 22 embassies in Pristina which is

the capital of Kosovo (Wikipedia). This is managed by Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

(Wikipedia). It is also a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

(Journal). This satisfies the last criteria of entering into relations with other states.

Based on these facts, Kosovo surely is a state, mainly because of its independence that it got

from Serbia. In my opinion, if a state gets independence from a country and new borders are

made, it becomes a new state, like in this case, Kosovo. Many countries like the US,

European Countries, African countries, Asian countries, etc. have identified Kosovo as a

state. Till date, only Serbia, China and Russia deny that Kosovo is not a state (Ozturk).

Now for Kosovo’s membership in the UN. According to me, Kosovo should get membership

in the UN. If Kosovo becomes a member of the UN, it will tremendously benefit Kosovo.

Firstly, it will get international recognition (Careers). Even thought many countries recognise

Kosovo as a country, it is not stated anywhere and is not official. However, becoming a

member of the UN will make it official and Kosovo will get the much-needed international

recognition (Careers).
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Secondly, Kosovo will receive security. Since Kosovo recently got independence, it does not

have a proper military. UN membership can give Kosovo the security it heavily needs as

other countries can jump in favour of Kosovo (Careers). Kosovo can also receive

international aid. Kosovo is also one of the poorest countries in Europe. UN provides

financial aid to these countries (Careers). Kosovo really needs this support to evolve into a

nice country in which people can be happy. Another reason that UN should give Kosovo

membership is because the UN can run their agencies like UNICEF, UNESCO, etc. in

Kosovo. This will benefit Kosovo also as the people in Kosovo can get proper education and

help from UNESCO (Careers). Lastly, Kosovo can help the UN with the SDGs. These goals

are set to be achieved by 2030 and Kosovo can also help them in the long run (Careers).

Kosovo is also very determined to become a peace-loving state. “Kosovo has declared its

commitment to the peace and stability of Southeast Europe” (Efevwerhan). This is a great

step taken by Kosovo to help its status for UN membership. The United Nations really seeks

countries which are peace-loving and would try to avoid war. In the past, Kosovo has been

involved in a war, but it was not Kosovo’s fault. Kosovo was the victim in the war as Serbia

had started the war with Kosovo (Efevwerhan).

So, Kosovo satisfies all the criterions in the Montevideo Convention and qualifies as a state.

It also will benefit a lot with the membership in the UN. Please take the points I said today

into consideration as well as Kosovo’s membership in the UN.

Thank you.
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Works Cited
Allcock, John B. Kosovo self-declared independent country. 08 November 2022. Article. 05
December 2022. <https://www.britannica.com/place/Kosovo>.
Britannica. Government and Society . 01 January 2022. Article. 06 Decemeber 2022.
Careers, Humanitarian. 6 Reasons Why Countries Join The United Nations. 01 January 2022.
Article. 08 December 2022. <https://humanitariancareers.com/why-country-join-
united-nations/#:~:text=Being%20a%20UN%20member%20state,bring%20an
%20end%20to%20conflicts.>.
CountryMeters. Kosovo Population. 06 December 2022. Article. 06 December 2022.
<https://countrymeters.info/en/Kosovo#:~:text=During%202022%20Kosovo
%20population%20is,in%20the%20beginning%20of%202023.>.
Efevwerhan, David I. Kosovo’s Chances of UN Membership: A Prognosis. Goettingen: David
I. Efevwerhan, 2012. PDF. 08 December 2022.
<https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/journals/gojil/v4i1/f_0025237_20616.pdf>.
Journal, Perth International Law. Is Kosovo a country? (Part 1). 25 June 2017. Article. 06
December 2022. <https://www.perthilj.com/blog/2019/2/23/is-kosovo-a-country-part-
i#:~:text=Kosovo%20clearly%20satisfies%20both%20criteria,the%20autonomous
%20region%20of%20Kosovo.>.
Oslo, University of. Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. 01 May
2016. Article. 05 December 2022.
<https://www.jus.uio.no/english/services/library/treaties/01/1-02/rights-duties-
states.xml>.
Ozturk, Talha. Serbia says 7 countries withdrew recognition of Kosovo. 27 August 2022.
Journal article. 07 December 2022. <https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/serbia-says-7-
countries-withdrew-recognition-of-kosovo/2670756#>.
Wikipedia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kosovo). 01 October 2022. Article. 06 December
2022.