Kosovo: Course & Interventions

Course of Events

In the late 1980s, simmering tensions between Serbs and Albanians in the province of Kosovo intensified, with Albanians calling for more autonomy.
Slobodan Milošević, the Serbian president, took a hardline stance, reducing Kosovo’s autonomy and making aggressive speeches that incited ethnic hatred.
In the 1990s, a group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), predominantly made up of Kosovar Albanians, began an armed rebellion against Serbian rule.
By 1999, the conflict had escalated into a full-scale war and acts of ethnic cleansing, with mass expulsion and killings of Albanians by Serbian forces.
The atrocities peaked in the Račak massacre in January 1999, an event later confirmed as a crime against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia.

International Interventions

The international community was largely opposed to the Serb actions, with extensive lobbying from the United States and United Kingdom to intervene.
A turning point was the Rambouillet Conference in February 1999, which sought to restore Kosovo’s autonomy but was rejected by Serbia.
Following the failure of diplomacy, NATO launched an aerial bombing campaign against Serbia in March 1999, dubbed Operation Allied Force.
NATO’s intervention was not sanctioned by the UN Security Council, owing to the potential veto by Russia, a Serbian ally. This raised significant questions about the legality and morality of the intervention.
After nearly three months of bombing, Serbia finally agreed to withdraw its forces from Kosovo.

Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Once Serbian forces pulled out, a UN administration took over Kosovo (UNMIK), tasked with rebuilding the war-torn region and resuming basic services.
The Hardinaj Trial and other proceedings at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia sought to pursue justice against individual war criminals.
In a contentious move, Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a declaration recognised by many Western countries but not by Serbia or Russia.
Efforts at reconciliation and peace-building have continued, with many issues unresolved, including the status of northern Kosovo, inhabited by a Serb majority.