Kosovo Conflict Chronology: September 1998 - March 1999 (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
April 6, 1999 |
| Report Number |
RL30127 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Julie Kim, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Kosovo is a province in southern Serbia with a majority Albanian population that seeks
independence. Long-simmering tensions between the Serbian government authorities and the ethnic
Albanian majority in Kosovo erupted into large-scale violence beginning in February 1998. An
October 1998 agreement brokered by U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke with Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic, and backed by the threat of NATO air strikes, achieved a brief pause in the
fighting. A January 1999 massacre of ethnic Albanian civilians in Racak prompted renewed
international focus on the situation in Kosovo and on negotiations to resolve the conflict. By this
time, an estimated 2,000 persons, mainly ethnic Albanians, had been killed and over 350,000 had
been made refugees.
Negotiations opened in Rambouillet, France, in early February 1999. The Rambouillet accords
would provide for a three-year interim agreement on democratic self-government for the people of
Kosovo. The accords would establish political institutions and offices in Kosovo, free elections, and
human rights provisions. A NATO military force would ensure compliance with the accords and
provide a secure environment. The United States pledged to contribute up to 4,000 troops to a
NATO-led peacekeeping force, a smaller share than in the NATO force in Bosnia. Kosovo would
not achieve independence from Serbia under the accords; however, at the end of the three year
period, an international conference would determine a mechanism for a final settlement for Kosovo.
In contrast to earlier expectations, the Kosovar Albanian delegation retained objections to
aspects of the accords and refused to sign the agreement during the Rambouillet conference. It
finally signed the agreement on March 18, after the conference briefly reconvened in Paris. In spite
of numerous international missions to Belgrade by western officials, including U.S. envoy
Holbrooke, President Milosevic continued to refuse to consider the deployment of NATO troops on
Serbian territory and instead mobilized greater numbers of troops in Kosovo.
On March 24, NATO launched Operation "Allied Force," an extensive air strike campaign
against Yugoslav military targets. The air operation aimed to deter Serbian attacks on Kosovo and
to reduce Belgrade's military capabilities. In a national address, President Clinton stated that ending
the Kosovo tragedy was both a "moral imperative" and important to U.S. national interests.
However, Yugoslav and Serb forces stepped up their ethnic cleansing campaigns to drive out ethnic
Albanians, creating a refugee and humanitarian crisis affecting neighboring states. By the end of the
month, some observers questioned whether additional measures, such as the introduction of ground
troops, should be considered.
This report provides a chronology of major events related to the conflict in Kosovo from
September 1998 through March 1999. It continues from an earlier CRS Report, Kosovo Conflict
Chronology: January - August 1998. A map is included.
