What if you follow the traffic signs but never reach the place due to “foreign” presence, which has lasted already for decades? Get as close as possible, take a spy-glass, climb up to the watch tower and have a look at what is beyond the “no-man’s-land”, behind the barbwire fences and mental barriers. If you are lucky, you might see some anomalous and deviant cases routinely operating on the other side. Furthermore, a constant struggle for survival and recognition do not remain unnoticed to your investigative eyes. Welcome to the world of de facto states!
In our view, de facto states are entities that fulfill the Montevideo criteria for statehood, but lack international recognition. We exclude Palestine and Western Sahara, because they do not have full control over their territories. Although Republika Srpska and Iraqi Kurdistan function as de facto independent states, these entities do not explicitly claim to be independent and therefore are left out as well. South Ossetia may have full control over its territory and even some international recognition, but its governance is outsourced and left in the hands of occupying forces.
Why study these places that legally speaking “do not exist”? Due to their geographical location and the stakes involved, these territories hold considerable power as custodians of geopolitical fault lines and they have the potential to disrupt the strategic balance of the entire region and even the international system. One shouldn’t expect to see de facto states disappearing. Quite to the contrary, blurred international norms create favourable conditions for politically inspired interpretations of what is a state and how to become a state. De Facto States Research Unit provides expertise about places that, legally speaking, “do not exist”.
On 1 March 2025, Abkhazia elected a new president, the 6th since de facto independence in 1992. Over the years, power has shifted between position and opposition. In this sense, this de facto state, fails to follow …
On 9 February 2025, Kosovo held its first-ever regular elections after a government’s full term in office ever since it declared its independence in 2008. This was largely possible due to Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (LVV’s) victory in the …
In 2014, while working as a trainee at the European Union (EU) Delegation to Moldova, I first heard about Transnistria. My colleagues described it as a de facto state – legally part of Moldova under international law, …
