State Recognition, Conflict and International Parliaments: The European Parliament and Kosovo

States in international relations emerge through diplomatic state recognition, yet when there are rival statehood claims over the same territory, recognition becomes contested and a security concern. International organisations and their parliaments express recognition positions that matter because of their collective nature, but this remains underexplored in predominantly state-centric scholarship. This study addresses that gap by analysing how International Parliamentary Institutions (IPIs) facilitate recognition in statehood conflicts. We propose an analytical framework to capture how IPIs exercise agency through using their own instruments (e.g. resolutions) to express recognition positions, particularly when these diverge from their executive counterparts. Applying this framework, we conduct a historical analysis of the European Parliament’s approach to Kosovo as a case study of IPIs’ significance for recognition, drawing on extensive original and secondary data. Findings show that the activism of parliamentarians and majority decision-making rules enabled a stance in favour of Kosovo’s recognition; that EP support has strengthened over time; and that plenary debates fostered reflection on recognition of Kosovo and beyond. The study highlights the importance of both institutional rules and individual agency, contributing to a deeper understanding of collective recognition by diverse international actors in some of the world’s most complex security environments.