Part I: Regional Historical Overview & Background 1.1. Introduction The shared history of the republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (former SFRY) set the background for this regional analysis on statelessness. The new countries of South Eastern Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia (including Kosovo) have, through their citizenship legislation, largely prevented statelessness from occurring on their territory in the aftermath of the dissolution of the former SFRY and emergence of successor states.5 However, there are a few gaps in the legislative framework of certain States that still may render some persons stateless. This paper will focus on the issue of statelessness in the region, and provide an overview of some key commonalities, problems and gaps in the national and administrative frameworks in five South Eastern European States, with respect to international standards for the prevention and reduction of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons. It will draw upon international legal standards, national legislation, and academic analyses of the complex and at times overlapping citizenship regimes of the new States of South Eastern Europe.6 From a regional perspective, during the past twenty years several events have impacted the issue of statelessness within the region. The first two are the conflicts that marked the 1990s. The tension between the republics of the former SFRY, the breakup of that State, and the displacement of its citizens from 1991 to 1995 had a large impact on the citizenship of persons in the region. This major upheaval was followed by the Kosovo conflict in 1999, the displacement of persons throughout the region, the introduction of UNMIK under UN Security Council 1244, as well as the dislocation and destruction of birth registries, causing havoc for many within the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and the neighboring former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.7 Two further events have altered the landscape of citizenship and civil registration. Montenegro’s independence from the State Union with Serbia in 2006 caused a shift in the legal status of some former citizens of the State Union Serbia and Montenegro, including many internally displaced Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians from Kosovo who become foreigners in Montenegro overnight. Then, Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo towards the Republic of Serbia in 2008, and the subsequent promulgation of a State-like legal system 5 Slovenia, the sixth of the former republics is the only republic left out of this report as UNHCR covers issues of statelessness among EU countries separately. 6 Shaw, J. (2010), ‘The Constitutional Mosaic Across the Boundaries of the European Union: Citizenship Regimes in the New States of Southeastern Europe, CITSEE Working paper, 2010/07, School of Law, University of Edinburgh, p. 6. 7 In 1999, the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro existed as the successor State to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the SFRY before it. 6