The Establishment of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in 1999

The purpose of the research paper is to consider the role of the UN territorial administrations (interim missions) in the 1990s, focusing on establishing of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in 1999. The scientific novelty. The development of a specific international institution is traced – the UN territorial administrations, which played an important role in establishing the governance of conflict territories. Changes in the intended use of these missions and their transformation into a state-building institution are shown. The important role of the established 1999 UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo for imposing peace and security in the region and forming state institutions of the Republic of Kosovo is emphasized. Conclusions. Since 1945, the territorial administrations, established by the United Nations in various countries, have undergone numerous changes, especially after the Cold War, that is, in the 1990s. These institutions were not multi-purpose and did not have strategic planning, and today, as the example of Bosnia and Kosovo has shown, they already have a broad goal of state building. The establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo in 1999 was based on UN Resolution 1244, which mandated consolidating democratic institutions, building them up, and gradually transferring powers to provisional self-governing institutions of Kosovo. The formation of UNMIK was crucial for establishing peace and security in Kosovo, as it enabled the organization of democratic institutions that were consolidated and completed, and it was a historic success for both the United Nations and Kosovo. The beginning of this mission faced numerous challenges, but the international administrations, using first a strategy of institutionalization and then democratization in the society that had just emerged from the war, managed to establish law and order in Kosovo. In 1999, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo first established security and order, then organized the first local elections by establishing local institutions, and managed to fill the political and social vacuum in Kosovo. In accordance with the Constitutional Framework, provisional institutions of self-government, such as a president, a prime minister, and a parliament, were established in Kosovo. These institutions, together with the UNMIK, organized political, economic, and social life and established order and laws so that Kosovo society functioned as a normal society under international rules and laws.