Minorities, asymmetrical rights and differentiated citizenship: the case of Kosovo

This paper discusses the position of minorities in the Kosovar legislation. It argues that the Kosovo legislation is characterized by the existence of a tension between civic definition of citizenship and group-differentiated rights for communities, which in turn has resulted into asymmetrical rights for various minority groups and differentiated citizenship. Kosovo’s constitution and basic statehood laws have strong civic underpinnings (most notably manifested in the preamble of the constitution and the declaration of independence), but when it comes to various political rights, individuals can exercise them through their membership in a community (defined on ethnic basis). So, if equality is established legally among all citizens, politically every citizen is defined as a member of a community. Moreover, various minority communities have been provided with specific and different rights and protection, thus leading to the emergence of a hierarchy of rights and minority groups within the state. This way, formal equality masks a hierarchy of minority groups and of citizenship rights within the new state.