North Kosovo

North Kosovo (Serbian: Северно Косово / Severno Kosovo, Albanian: Kosova Veriore), also known as the Ibar Kolašin (Serbian: Ибарски Колашин / Ibarski Kolašin, Albanian: Koloshini i Ibrit or Kollashini i Ibrit), earlier Old Kolašin, (Serbian: Стари Колашин / Stari Kolašin, Albanian: Koloshini i Vjetër or Kollashini i Vjetër) and colloquially known as the North (Serbian: Север / Sever, Albanian: Veriu), is a region in the northern part of Kosovo, generally understood as a group of four municipalities with ethnic Kosovo Serbs majority: North Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan, and Zubin Potok.

Until 2013, the region operated independently of Kosovo’s government structures, with Serbia-backed and financed so-called parallel institutions, as Serbs in North Kosovo refused to acknowledge and recognize the independence of Kosovo, declared in 2008. The Government of Kosovo opposed any kind of parallel institutions in the region. The parallel structures were abolished by the 2013 Brussels Agreement, signed between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia. Both governments agreed upon establishing a Community of Serb Municipalities, which includes all the ten majority-Serb municipalities in Kosovo, and agreed-upon with intention to give the Serb community greater autonomy in areas such as education, healthcare, urban planning, and economic development. Its implementation has been continuously derailed and has still not been established due to ongoing disagreements between Kosovo and Serbia over its powers and constitutionality.