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| - A recap of the main dates in Kosovo's path to independence from Serbia after it broke away following a bloody conflict two decades ago. The former war foes resume talks on Thursday in Brussels in a bid to normalise relations. After World War II the small landlocked territory of Kosovo is integrated into communist leader Josip Broz Tito's Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Kosovo is part of Serbia, one of the six Yugoslavia republics, but its status as an autonomous province is significantly extended in 1974. Home to historic Serbian Orthodox monasteries, Kosovo is cherished by Serbs, who consider it the cradle of their religion and identity. In 1989 Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic begins to forcefully strip Kosovo of its autonomy, later pledging "unity" by bringing the province totally under Serbian rule. A year later, Kosovo Albanians decide to declare independence, which the Serbian government rejects. Yugoslavia starts to collapse in 1991, with Slovenia fighting a brief 10-day war for its independence. Croatia's inter-ethnic conflict erupts in the same year and the Bosnian war in 1992. The United Nations admits the three ex-Yugoslav republics in 1992 and the conflicts end in 1995. But Kosovo's status remains unresolved. In 1998 Milosevic again turns his attention to the province. Serb forces begin a crackdown on the recently-formed guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in a conflict that claims around 13,000 mostly ethnic Albanian lives over about 15 months. Hundreds of thousands of refugees flee the repression, streaming to neighbouring Albania and Macedonia. The NATO alliance decides to intervene, launching a 78-day bombing campaign on Serbia in 1999 that leaves 500 civilians dead, including Albanians, Serbs, and Roma, according to Human Rights Watch estimates. The offensive culminates in the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo, which becomes a UN protectorate. Tensions persist between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian and Serb populations, notably in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica where the two communities are almost completely separated by a river. In 2004 several days of anti-Serb rioting by ethnic Albanians across Kosovo leaves 19 dead and many more injured. On February 17, 2008 Kosovo's parliament unilaterally declares independence. It is recognised by the US and many European countries but rejected by a number of states including Russia and China, but also some European countries like Spain. A year later Kosovo joins the IMF and World Bank. In 2010 the UN's top court gives formal backing to its independence, saying it conforms with international law. But Serbia continues to deny sovereignty, and Russia's threat to use a UN Security Council veto stops Kosovo from becoming a UN member-state. EU-brokered negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina to improve relations begin in 2011, and Belgrade wins EU candidate status the following year. Kosovo remains under NATO protection. In 2013, after several months of difficult negotiations, the two countries broker a deal to normalise ties, though most of the agreements are not fully implemented. Further negotiations are derailed by diplomatic clashes and tit-for-tat provocations that hamper progress. In January 2018, a rare moderate Serb politician in Kosovo, Oliver Ivanovic, is murdered, igniting fresh tensions. Following a month-long stalemate, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic meet in 2019 in Berlin, but the encounter is fruitless. In early July 2020 the dialogue is renewed when Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Vucic hold talks in a video summit, and agree to the face-to-face meeting on Thursday. An estimated 120,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo, in the north and in a dozen enclaves. doc-kd/eab/mbs/ssm/txw
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