International statebuilding in post-independence Kosovo: Local responses to the EU Rule of Law Mission

After the independence of Kosovo in 2018, the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) took over under the Common Security and Defense Policy of the EU, as the main international mission that was tasked with helping in institution-building and maintaining peace with ethnic tensions still remaining high. Despite its vast resources and unparalleled capabilities, the mission received several complaints, with many alleging that it had mostly failed to fulfill its aims of promoting the rule of law. Local Kosovo Albanians soon began to change their attitude towards the international mission. This provoked outrage among certain local actors, in particular the Self-Determination Party (SDP) which was a key actor in exposing some of the internal issues of EULEX. In this research, I want to explore from a bottom-up approach the formation and evolution process of the local response towards EULEX in the 2008-2020 period.