One year has passed by since Kosovo's declaration of independence on February 17th 2008. Thousands of people took to the streets of Pristina and other towns of Kosovo flying Albanian and American flags to celebrate the event. The country's first year, though, clearly shows that a declaration of independence and support from the West are not sufficient for Kosovo to become a normalized State.

Firstly, because Kosovo's status cannot be labeled as ‘independent', since several international missions have a say in Kosovo's political institutions. Such is the case of UNMIK -the UN's Kosovo mission that performs the function of a provisional administration and whose Special Representative is the country's top official)- and EULEX (the European Union's rule of law mission), in charge of police and law.

Secondly, the Kosovar Government and its diplomatic corps have not been successful in persuading the international community to recognise the new State. Up to now, only 54 out of 192 UN member states have formally approved Kosovo's statehood. Among these 54 there are countries like US, Australia, Japan, Canada, and 33 European States -22 of them belonging to the EU. It is unlikely that Kosovo is able to have a say in the international arena with such a low degree of support.

Apart from international recognition, one of the Kosovo's main challenges is to achieve internal stability. Currently, the State has no control over the Northern areas of the country with Serbian majority and the divided city of Mitrovica, bastions of radical Serbian nationalism.

Further information:

• BalkanInsight.com: Kosovo Independence Brought Stability - Sejdiu and Kosovo Is Not A State - Serbia
• RFE/RL: Kosovo's Dreams Are Slow To Be Realized
• Osservatorio sui Balcani: Il Kosovo indipendente e il mondo
• MónDivers: Kosovo, un any d'independència amb poques expectatives complertes
• Countries that have recognised Kosovo's statehood are listed here