NATO Burdensharing and Kosovo: A Preliminary Report (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Jan. 3, 2000 |
| Report Number |
RL30398 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Carl Ek, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
On March 24, 1999 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) launched Operation
Allied
Force against the Former Republic of Yugoslavia. The military operation, which the alliance
conducted almost entirely from the air, was intended to finally put a halt the Yugoslav government's
brutal, systematic expulsion of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, a province of Serbia. The air war
continued until June 10, when Belgrade capitulated to allied demands.
Allied Force was not paid for by a "NATO" budget. As in NATO exercises over
the past
decades, each country that participated in Allied Force was responsible for the expense
of equipping
and employing its own armed forces. U.S. aircraft flew the majority of the combat, intelligence, and
support missions. Many U.S. policymakers have argued that the United States paid too large a share
of the conflict's cost.
The international effort to bring peace and stability to Kosovo, however, was more than just an
offensive military operation. Peacekeeping activities, humanitarian relief, refugee assistance and
reconstruction aid, in the form of bilateral, multilateral, and private donations, will likely total in the
billions of dollars over the long term, and the European nations have indicated that they intend to
play a leading roll.
There is no single, definitive source of consistent data on how much each NATO member state
contributed to the various military and non-military activities related to Kosovo. To gain an
approximate idea of relative costs, CRS contacted the embassies of NATO member states and
requested that they provide their expenditures associated with Kosovo. Other data in the report have
been derived from pledges announced at the donor conferences that were held in July and November
1999 in Brussels.
It should be emphasized that, unless and until more complete information becomes available,
the numbers presented in the summary table at the conclusion of this report should be regarded only
as a rough guide to contributions. Any comparison of these data can only be tentative, primarily
because of the countries' different national accounting practices. In addition, these numbers should
not simply be added together to reach a total, as they often cover different time periods.
This report was coordinated by Carl Ek of the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
(FDT) of CRS; other FDT contributors include: Steven Bowman (allied defense spending), Lois
McHugh (refugee assistance), Curt Tarnoff (reconstruction), and Steven Daggett (U.S. defense
budget). The report will be updated as CRS receives additional information.
