The geostrategic position of Kosova is connected to the fact that it is situated in a region under the processes of economic and political readjustments. In the process of former Yugoslavia's disintegration, the problem of Kosova is presented with all its complexity and wide implications for the region.
Kosova has a surface of 10 887 km2 with a population of 2.3 million inhabitants of which about 90% are Albanians. It lies at the central part of the Balkan Peninsula, between Belgrade and Thessaloniki, in the North-South direction (700 km road distance), and between Sofia and the Adriatic Port, Shengjin in Albania, in the East-West direction (490 km road distance). The meridian road Belgrade – Kraleva - Prishtina- Shkup passes through Kosova. While, very close to Kosova, it passes the meridian road or the main axes of the Balkan Peninsula, through the Morava and Vardar valleys down to Thessaloniki. One of the shortest transversal roads in the Balkans passes through Kosova, Nish - Prishtina - Prizren - Kukės -Shėngjin, with an outlet to the Adriatic Sea in Albania. With the construction of the Balkan transversal highway, Durrės - Qafė-Thanė - Kėrēovė - Shkup - Sofia -Istanbul, Kosova will be connected with this very important road at Shkup, with a distance from Prishtina of only 90 km. Kosova has an impressive possibility to be connected with the meridian highway Belgrade - Shkup - Thessaloniki - Kukės - Shėngjin (while the distance between Prizren and Shėngjin is only 160 km.) Kosova is surrounded by high mountains (to the South, South-West and the West), medium (to North and South), and low (to the East). With the surrounding regions it is connected by 16 roads and 3 railway routes. The relief structure determined of a ring-model urban road network, with medium and big-size urban centers, close to plain regions and river valleys, in the morphological contact field-hills, at the crossroads between the Kosova space and out of it. Parts of regional centers of Kosova have as their gravitation zone areas out of its territory in Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. Kosova's space, through its urban centers historically communicated with its surrounding parts, exchanging with them agriculture products, handicrafts, industrial and intellectual services (schools, hospitals etc.) Almost every town in Kosova, has one or more corresponding surrounding centers.
Kosova as a space entirety has an almost ideal shape, a circled one, with dimensions 100 x 100 km of North-South and East-West directions. The border of Kosova is natural and it basically lies over mountains. Despite its mountainous border, Kosova in its almost complete length (around 75%) borders with Albanian -populated areas which represents an important geostrategic and political element.
The ethnic Albanian border spreads even out of the political administrative territory of Kosova with a significant number of Albanians in Macedonia (the communes of Kumanova, Shkup, Tetova, Dibra and Gostivar), with Serbia (communes of Presheva and Bujanoc), and less with Montenegro (communes Plava and Rozhaje).
In an economic aspect, Kosova represents an economic wholeness, with considerable economic and demographic resources, and economic capacities. It is known as a small region, but rather rich with lead minerals, zinc, magnesium, chrome and coal. Kosova possesses also quite a lot of fertile land and a very nice and healthy climate, plenty of water (in Dukagjin), and a lot of forests and pastures.
Just before the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, the problem of Kosova became very actual, because of the unitarist tendencies of the Serbian authorities to suspend the autonomy of Kosova and put it under its jurisdiction, and because of the resistance of the Albanian population to protect their autonomy. In 1989 and 1990, with a combined political and military-police pressure, the political situation became so extremely and continuously aggravated, so that by a unilateral action, the wide territorial and political autonomy of Kosova, which in some aspects put Kosova in an equal level with other republics, was suspended. This moment was in fact the beginning of the procedure of the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, because the balance of function of former Yugoslavia was spoiled. After the war in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, the problem of other federal units is solved or is under the procedure of a solution, while the unsolved problem of Kosova has become extremely complicated and worsened, resulting on an escalation of armed conflicts since the beginning of 1998. Considering the fact that Kosova is bordered with Albanian-inhabited regions within the territories of other countries, the Albanian-Serb conflict cannot be isolated in long terms. The present relations created in Kosova and Yugoslavia, considerably burden Albanian-Serb relations, while the economic, social and political situation in the last 10 years has influenced a further deterioration of relations between these two nations.
This deterioration of the Albanian-Serb relations, and the increase of tensions up to armed conflicts in large proportions hindered the process of regional, Balkan and European integrations.
The 80-year old historic experience of the Albanians in Kosova, during the existing period of the three Yugoslav states, have convinced them that Serbia has continuously hindered their free political, economic and cultural development, respectively the Albanian population in whole.
Kosova, with its central position in the Balkan Peninsula, with economic and human resources, with a clear ethnic Albanian element with a lot of links with surrounding regions, is claiming an optimal political solution, which would enable an economic, social and culture development, to protect its multiethnic structure, and participate and stimulate an economic and political integration in the Balkans and elsewhere.
These integrating processes can be realized by a relaxation of existing borders, cooperating with other free nations, based on democracy and equality, regardless of nationality, race and religion. The integrated processes cannot be developed without free and equal people, and without an open market economy, based on democratic structures of plural societies. The economic interests can become factors which bring people together and reconcile people with long historic hostilities, once tendencies for domination and hegemony are overcome.