This paper examines the adoption of a multiethnic liberal democratic model of governance in post-independence Kosovo and the dual task of statebuilding to secure unity and manage diversity. This article explains why in post-conflict and postindependence Kosovo, its domestic sovereignty and legitimisation have become conditioned by the integration, accommodation and protection of its minorities. While the existing literature has mainly focused on the shortcomings deriving from the exogenous character of statebuilding in Kosovo, this paper aims to challenge and complement this view by drawing on the 'state-in-society' approach developed by Joel Migdal, which highlights that the actual states have less coherence than their theoretical counterparts. Therefore, the inclusion of endogenous factors offers a deeper understanding of how the state model designed for Kosovo has been transformed and "limited" by local idiosyncrasies. The analysis of post-independence governance in Kosovo reveals the legislation-implementation gap and the varying levels of integration as well as the tensions and the unintended consequences arising from the priority to address the situation of the Serb community. Overall, this article shows that multiethnic statebuilding in Kosovo has been crucially limited by endogenous conditions and that the state-society relationship remains largely undefined.

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Drawing on case studies and in-depth analysis of ethnic minorities in Kosovo against the backdrop of statebuilding since 1999, this article discusses how the securitisation and desecuritisation of minorities after conflict is particularly problematic when seen from the marginalised perspective of non-dominant groups. I therefore argue that the adoption of a multi-ethnic statebuilding model of governance, including consociational power-sharing arrangements, has triggered unintended consequences for the (de)securitisation of minorities in Kosovo. Among such consequences is the risk of perceiving all minorities as potential threats and approaching minority issues merely through the lenses of security. By exploring various social, economic, legal, political, and identity characteristics of non-dominant communities in Kosovo and drawing on personal interviews with key stakeholders, representatives, and members of minority communities, this article shows the need for a more inclusive understanding of security which stretches beyond the threat of physical violence. This would permit, among other things, a more effective approach to dealing with the different layers of securitisation of minorities identified here. Otherwise, minority rights and concerns cannot escape the straitjacket of emergency politics. In conclusion, the long-term risk of managing multi-ethnicity through one-size-fits-all approaches is that statebuilding in plural societies will always struggle to desecuritise minority rights and develop ‘normal’ politics of diversity.