Responsibility to Protect

The Kosovo War (1998-1999) took place in southeastern Europe between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs. For many decades following World War II, Kosovo was an autonomous province within Yugoslavia. By the late 1980s, however, the Yugoslav government was tightening its grip on Kosovo. At the same time, a separatist movement inside of Kosovo was growing. In 1998, these tensions erupted into the Kosovo War. By March 1999, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), a military alliance led by western States such as the United States and the United Kingdom, intervened to stop the violence.

Background

Yugoslavia was established in 1918 following the end of World War I. Yugoslavia was ethnically and religiously diverse. It was composed of six republics: Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. In 1974, two provinces in Serbia gained autonomy: Kosovo and Vojvodina.

The autonomous province of Kosovo was primarily composed of two major ethnic groups: Albanians (77%) and Serbs (13%). From the establishment of Yugoslavia, there was tension between ethnic Albanians and the Yugoslav government. When Kosovo gained some autonomy in the 1970s, its leadership and institutions shifted from being dominated by Serbs to being dominated by ethnic Albanians. The Serbian population felt marginalized.

By the 1980s, Kosovar Albanians were pushing for independence from Serbia. They wanted Kosovo to become an independent republic within Yugoslavia. Violence between Albanians and Serbs was common.

Violence in Kosovo

When Slobodan Milosevic became president of Serbia in 1989, he tried to weaken Kosovo by reducing Kosovo’s autonomous status. Soon after, Kosovar Albanian separatists announced the creation of an independent Republic of Kosovo (although no country in the world, besides Albania, recognized the state). In the early 1990s, the separatists created the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a paramilitary guerrilla group. By 1998, fighting between the KLA and ethnic Serbs had escalated substantially. Milosevic sent troops from the Yugoslav Army to Kosovo.

In September 1998, the UN Security Council demanded a ceasefire in Kosovo. By December, the fighting had resumed. Three months later, the international community came together and prepared the Rambouillet Accords, which would give Kosovo autonomy again and would deploy peacekeepers from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). The KLA signed the agreement, but the Yugoslav government did not.

On March 24, 1999, NATO began a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia in an attempt to get Milosevic to withdraw his troops. NATO stated that the campaign was a humanitarian intervention, and that the Yugoslav government’s refusal to sign the Rambouillet Accords justified the action. The UN Charter prohibits the use of force, with two exceptions: if the Security Council approves the decision or as self-defense against an armed attack. NATO did not have approval of the UN Security Council, nor had its members been attacked.

At a meeting of the UN Security Council that same day, representatives from around the world expressed their disagreement with NATO’s actions, including: Russia, Gambia, Malaysia, Namibia, Gabon, and China. Those expressing support for the military intervention were all members of NATO, including the United States, Canada, Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom.

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, President Milosevic proceeded with the campaign to destroy the Albanian population of Kosovo. Over the 78 days of the bombing campaign, Yugoslav troops forced more than 850,000 ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo, with hundreds of thousands displaced internally. According to Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organization, 90 percent of Kosovar Albanians were forced from their homes in the four months between March and June 1999.

The expulsions were very orderly, suggesting that the ethnic cleansing campaign was planned in advance. In addition to forcing Albanians out of Kosovo, there were reports of Yugoslav forces destroying Albanians’ identity documents so that they would not be able to return. Murder and sexual violence were also widespread during the campaign.

Despite pleas from the international community to end the campaign, the bombing continued for 78 days. Approximately 500 civilians in Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro were killed during NATO’s bombing.

On June 10, 1999, the Yugoslav Army signed an agreement with NATO, ending the Kosovo War. More than 13,000 people were killed during the war and close to 6,000 people went missing. NATO’s bombing campaign killed hundreds of civilians.

After the war, the UN placed Kosovo under UN administration temporarily; it remained an autonomous province within Serbia. Kosovo declared independence in February 2008. As of 2022, Kosovo is recognized by 97 of the UN’s 193 Member States. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign state.

Albright, Madeleine: U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001)

Balkans: a geographic area in southeastern Europe

Belgrade: the capital of Yugoslavia (present-day capital of Serbia)

Chapter VII of the UN Charter: outlines the UN Security Council’s role in establishing and maintaining peace. It states that the Security Council alone can authorize military or nonmilitary intervention to restore international peace.

Contact Group: a group of countries who worked to maintain peace in Yugoslavia. The group included the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom.

Milosevic, Slobodan (Mee-low-SHEH-vitch): president of Serbia from 1989-2000. Milosevic was eventually tried for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, but died before a verdict was reached.

OSCE: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the world’s largest security organization. As of 2022, OSCE includes 57 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America. Its verification mission was sent to Kosovo to ensure that Serbian/Yugoslav forces were abiding by agreements to end atrocities in Kosovo.

Rambouillet: a city in France, as well as the name of a proposed peace agreement between Yugoslavia and a delegation of Kosovar Albanians (named after the location where it was negotiated). Yugoslavia did not sign the agreement.

UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN’s agency that deals with issues related to refugees

Yugoslavia: a country in southeastern Europe that existed from 1918-1992. Present-day countries that were once part of Yugoslavia are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia.