This dyad belongs to the conflict Serbia (Yugoslavia): Kosovo
Summary of conflict Serbia (Yugoslavia): Kosovo
As several republics of Yugoslavia seceded, separatism was advocated also by the Albanian population in Kosovo. The initial peaceful political line was increasingly replaced in the mid-1990s and in 1996 UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) declared its goal to establish an independent Kosovo. The armed conflict escalated in 1998 and it was not until NATO launched its air bombardment campaign in 1999 and intense negotiations were conducted that the conflict was terminated.
Background to the conflict
In the early nineties, Albanians in Kosovo under the leadership of Ibrahim Rugova began to organize themselves in order to secure more influence for Albanians. Rugova, elected ‘President’ of the self-proclaimed ‘Republic of Kosovo’ in 1992, advocated that separatism and the repeal of discrimination should take place through peaceful means. With time, Rugova came under increasing attack from radicals who claimed that his pacifism equaled passivity. UCK (Ushtria Clirimtare ë Kosovës/Kosovo Liberation Army) was formed in the mid-nineties, to a great extent as a reaction to Rugova’s politics. UCK's demands, stated in 1996, were that the Yugoslavian government should stop occupying and colonizing Kosovo territory. For many UCK members, the long-term goal was to unite the Albanian populations of Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania. UCK’s official goal, however, was to make Kosovo an independent state. The incompatibility with the Yugoslavian government, thus, concerned the constitutional status of Kosovo.
Even in the late eighties, Slobodan Milosevic (then President of the Serbian Republic) had encouraged the long-existing claim that Kosovo was Serb ancestral homeland and that giving up this territory would be a threat to Serbian national interests. As Yugoslavia started to fall apart in the early nineties, Milosevic increasingly came to dominate the Yugoslavian government. In 1997, he became President of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslavian government considered the development of Albanian resistance in the mid-nineties to be a matter of terrorists questioning the integrity of the Yugoslavian territory.
Tensions escalate into armed conflict
The conflict became violent in early 1996, when UCK exploded a series of bombs in Serbian refugee camps and began attacking Serbian policemen. Several people died in these assaults. In early 1998, the conflict escalated dramatically. Serbian security forces were dispatched to Kosovo with the aim of quelling UCK activity. Armed fights broke out and the death figure rose rapidly as the warring parties’ retaliatory actions became increasingly serious.
The considerable escalation of the conflict and massacres of Albanian civilians led to growing international concern and pressure to regulate the conflict. The EU and the US, among others, condemned the Yugoslav warfare, and the Contact Group (which was composed of representatives from the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Russia) imposed sanctions and the UN an arms embargo on Yugoslavia. Direct discussions were also held with President Milosevic. NATO issued progressively stronger signals to Milosevic that military force might be used to secure the withdrawal of government forces and promote a political solution. In January 1999, NATO organised the Rambouillet peace talks with the purpose of getting Yugoslav and Kosovo Albanian leaders to accept a peace plan. In mid-March, UCK signed a peace agreement negotiated by the Contact Group. The accord required UCK to disarm within three months, forced most Yugoslavian troops to withdraw from Kosovo, and put a NATO occupation force into the province to enforce the agreement. The Yugoslav government did not accept the agreement and, accordingly, refused to sign.
NATO becomes secondary warring party in the conflict
Following the failure of a negotiated settlement to the conflict, NATO went from being a third party to becoming a secondary warring party to the conflict. On 24 March 1999, NATO launched an air bombardment campaign on Yugoslavian military installations in Kosovo and Serbia. The offensive was designed to force Yugoslavia's capitulation to the peace plan. NATO did not receive an endorsement from the UNSC for the operation. As NATO campaign proceeded, Yugoslavian troops on the ground increased their campaign against UCK. Nevertheless, NATO was militarily superior on the battlefield.
Termination of conflict and the deployment of a NATO-led peacekeeping force
In June 1999, after intense discussions with Marti Ahtisaari (EU Special Envoy and President of Finland) and Viktor Chernomyrdin (Russian Special Envoy), the Yugoslav leader Milosevic agreed to terminate the conflict according to the terms set by NATO. These terms included, among other things, the deployment of a NATO force in Kosovo and the withdrawal of Yugoslavian troops from the province. Reacting to Milosevic’s acceptance, UCK signed the undertaking of demilitarization and transformation by UCK. The group thereby reaffirmed its commitment to terminating the use of armed force. A NATO-led peacekeeping force entered Kosovo in June 1999.
Despite the termination of the armed conflict, the incompatibility remained unsolved. In 2005, an UN-led process was initiated to determine the final status of Kosovo. There were several rounds of negotiations during 2006 and 2007, but no agreement was reached between the governments in Belgrade and in Pristina. On 17 February 2008, the Kosovo Assembly decided to declare Kosovo an independent state. The declaration was highly controversial and many countries have refused to recognize Kosovo as an independent state. Serbia has strongly rejected the declaration and has questioned the legality of Kosovo’s independence declaration under international law. Although the declaration did not cause a resumption of the armed conflict, the tensions have remained.
