Kosovo chances of UN membership: A prognosis

Abstract

The International Court of Justice has ruled that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence neither violated general rule of international law nor the lex specialis. As of the time of writing, 86 UN Member States have recognized Kosovo as a State. With the judicial pronouncement in their favour, the authorities in Kosovo are likely to apply for membership in the United Nations. This paper reviews the rules and practice of UN membership admission and assesses Kosovo's chances of success should it apply to the world body for admission. It argues that ordinarily, Kosovo meets the requirements for admission into the UN but political considerations of the permanent members of the Security Council would constitute a clog in Kosovo's ambition to become the 194th member of the United Nations. However, four options are proffered as ways out of the political logjam that is sure to surface if and when, Kosovo puts in an application for admission into the membership of the UN.