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Kosovo War
Part of Yugoslav wars
Clockwise from top: Yugoslav Army Headquarters building destroyed, a car covered in rubble, grave of killed KLA militants, a USAF F-15 takes off
Date 1996–June 11, 1999 Location Kosovo (then a part of FR Yugoslavia) Result NATO victory (Yugoslav troops pulled out, KFOR peacekeepers entered Kosovo) Territorial changes Yugoslav borders according to UNSCR Resolution 1244, Kosovo a de-facto state up to 2007 under UN administration, declared independence in 2008, now de facto sovereign state (de jure still part of Serbia)
Belligerents
NATO+ Active participation:  Belgium  Canada  Denmark  France  Germany  Italy  Netherlands  Norway  Portugal  Spain  Turkey  United Kingdom  United States Kosovo Liberation Army, including foreign fighters	FR Yugoslavia Yugoslav Army Serbian police Serb paramilitary forces, including foreign fighters
Commanders
Wesley Clark-(SACEUR) Javier Solana-(Secretary General) Adem Jashari-(1996-1998) KLA Chief Commander Suleiman Selimi-(KLA Chief of Staff, until May 1999) Agim Çeku-(KLA Chief of Staff, from May 1999)	Slobodan Milošević (Supreme Commander, Army of Yugoslavia) Dragoljub Ojdanić (Chief of the General Staff) Svetozar Marjanović (Deputy Chief of Staff), Nebojša Pavković (Commander, FRY 3rd Army)
Strength
NATO: 1,031+ aircraft[1] KLA: 12,000-20,000 men[2]	Kosovo total: 50,000 (10,000 regulars, 30,000 police, 10,000 irregulars)[1]
Casualties and losses
NATO: 2 non-combat deaths*[3] KLA: Unavailable	(March 24 to June 11, 1999) 576 servicemen killed[1]
between 7,449 and 13,627 Albanian killed by Serb forces**[4] ~600 Serb civilians killed by ethnic Albanian forces[5] ~500 Yugoslav civilians killed by NATO (mainly Serbs)[6]
(*) Military losses according to each side's official figures (**) As of 2001, 3,525 people were remaining missing from the conflict - the vast majority of them ethnic Serbs (but also a small number of other nationalities including Albanians) (+)[4]

The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is often used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts in Kosovo: Image File history File links Acap. ... Belligerents Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo Liberation Army, NATO, UCPMB SFR Yugoslavia, Republic of Srpska Serbian Krajina FR Yugoslavia, Paramilitary forces from Serbia Commanders Milan Kučan Janez JanÅ¡a, Franjo TuÄ‘man, Mate Boban Janko Bobetko, Alija Izetbegović, Sefer Halilović, Hashim Thaci, Wesley Clark, Javier Solana Bill Clinton... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 355 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (473 × 798 pixel, file size: 63 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... For other uses, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ... Capital Belgrade Language(s) Serbian Government Republic President  - 1992 - 1993 Dobrica Ćosić  - 1993 - 1997 Zoran Lilić  - 1997 – 2000 Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević  - 2000 - 2003 Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Prime Minister  - 1992 - 1993 Milan Panić  - 1993 - 1998 Radoje Kontić  - 1998 - 2000 Momir Bulatović  - 2000 - 2001 Zoran Žižić  - 2001 - 2003 DragiÅ¡a Pe... For other uses, see KFOR (disambiguation). ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wikisource. ... UN redirects here. ... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... Look up De jure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Anthem:  Serbia() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusyn 1 Albanian 2 Demonym Serbian Government Parliamentary Democracy  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica    -  First state 7th century   -  Serbian Kingdom3 1217   -  Serbian Empire 1345   -  Independence lost... This article is about the military alliance. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Portugal. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Turkey. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_FR_Yugoslavia. ... Capital Belgrade Language(s) Serbian Government Republic President  - 1992 - 1993 Dobrica Ćosić  - 1993 - 1997 Zoran Lilić  - 1997 – 2000 Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević  - 2000 - 2003 Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Prime Minister  - 1992 - 1993 Milan Panić  - 1993 - 1998 Radoje Kontić  - 1998 - 2000 Momir Bulatović  - 2000 - 2001 Zoran Žižić  - 2001 - 2003 DragiÅ¡a Pe... Image File history File links Flag_of_FR_Yugoslavia. ... The Yugoslav Peoples Army (Serbo-Croatian Jugoslavenska/Jugoslovenska narodna armija, JNA, Slovene Jugoslovanska ljudska armada, JLA, Macedonian Jugoslovenskata narodna armija, JNA) was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Serbia_1991-2004. ... MUP or Serbian Ministry of the Interior (Ministarstvo UnutraÅ¡njih Polsova/Mинистарство Uиутрашњих Послова) is the Serbian Ministry of the Interior bureau that deals with internal security of the Republic of Serbia and the apprehension of dangerous criminals. ... Paramilitary designates forces whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which are not regarded as having the same status. ... NATO military is divided into two commands, Atlantic and Europe. ... Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer meeting President George W. Bush on March 20, 2006 The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is the chair of the North Atlantic Council, the supreme decision-making organisation of the defence alliance. ... Adem Jashari (November 28, 1955 – March 6, 1998) was born in Drenica, Kosovo. ... Agim Çeku (born 29 October 1960 in the village of ĆuÅ¡ka [1] near Peć, in Kosovo, Yugoslavia), is the current Prime Minister of Kosovo, a Serbian province under United Nations administration. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_FR_Yugoslavia. ... MiloÅ¡ević redirects here. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_FR_Yugoslavia. ... Dragoljub Ojdanić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгољуб Ојданић) (born Jun 1, 1941 in Užice, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) was former Chief of the General Staff and Defence minister of FRY. He is currently indicted with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war by the ICTY.[1] 1958 he joined... Image File history File links Flag_of_FR_Yugoslavia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_FR_Yugoslavia. ... NebojÅ¡a Pavković (Serbian Cyrillic: Небојша Павковић; born in the village of Senjski Rudnik near Ćuprija in April 10, 1946) was former Chief of the General Staff of FRY. He graduated in every military school with avrage evaluation (10,00). ... In ordinary English, regular is an adjective or noun used to mean in accordance with the usual customs, conventions, or rules, or frequent, periodic, or symmetric. ... Look up irregular in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Languages Serbian Religions Predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christian Related ethnic groups Other Slavic peoples, especially South Slavs See Cognate peoples below (* many Serbs opted for Yugoslav ethnicity) [27] Serbs (Serbian: Срби or Srbi) are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in... Belligerents Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo Liberation Army, NATO, UCPMB SFR Yugoslavia, Republic of Srpska Serbian Krajina FR Yugoslavia, Paramilitary forces from Serbia Commanders Milan Kučan Janez JanÅ¡a, Franjo TuÄ‘man, Mate Boban Janko Bobetko, Alija Izetbegović, Sefer Halilović, Hashim Thaci, Wesley Clark, Javier Solana Bill Clinton... An animated series of maps showing the breakup of the second Yugoslavia; The different colors represent the areas of control. ... Combatants  Bosnia and Herzegovina Volunteers from Islamic countries Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia  Croatia Volunteers from Western Europe  Republika Srpska  Yugoslavia Various paramilitary units from FR Yugoslavia Volunteers from Eastern Europe Commanders Alija Izetbegović (President of Bosnia and Herzegovina) Sefer Halilović (Army chief of staff 1992-1993) Rasim Delić (Army... Combatants NATO Republika Srpska Commanders Willy Claes Ratko Mladić Strength 2 F-16C, 1 Mirage aircraft 2 SAMs Casualties 1 Mirage aircraft 2 pilots POW 1 F-16C Undisclosed The 1995 NATO bombing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (code-named by NATO Operation Deliberate Force) was a sustained air campaign conducted... Combatants NATO (USAF, RAF, and other air, maritime and land forces) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and allied Serb paramilitary and foreign volunteer forces[1] Commanders Wesley Clark (SACEUR), Javier Solana (Secretary General of NATO) Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević (Supreme Commander of the Yugoslav Army), Vojislav Å eÅ¡elj, Dragoljub Ojdanić (Chief of... For other uses, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ...

1. 1996–1999: War between Serbian and Yugoslav security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerilla group seeking secession from the former Yugoslavia.
2. 1999: 1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia between March 24 and June 10, 1999,^[7] during which NATO attacked Yugoslav targets, Albanian guerrillas continued battles with Yugoslav forces, amidst a massive displacement of population in Kosovo.^[8]

Languages Serbian Religions Predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christian Related ethnic groups Other Slavic peoples, especially South Slavs See Cognate peoples below (* many Serbs opted for Yugoslav ethnicity) [27] Serbs (Serbian: Срби or Srbi) are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia, or literary The Land of South Slavs) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës. ... Combatants NATO (USAF, RAF, and other air, maritime and land forces) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and allied Serb paramilitary and foreign volunteer forces[1] Commanders Wesley Clark (SACEUR), Javier Solana (Secretary General of NATO) Slobodan Milošević (Supreme Commander of the Yugoslav Army), Vojislav Šešelj, Dragoljub Ojdanić (Chief of... is the 83rd day of the year (84th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 161st day of the year (162nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ...

Pre-NATO Intervention

Kosovo in Tito's Yugoslavia (1945–1986)

Tensions between the two communities had been simmering throughout the 20th century and had occasionally erupted into major violence, particularly during the First Balkan War, World War I and World War II. The Socialist government of Josip Broz Tito systematically repressed nationalist manifestations throughout Yugoslavia, seeking to ensure that no Yugoslav republic or nationality gained dominance over the others. In particular, the power of Serbia—the largest and most populous republic—was diluted by the establishment of autonomous governments in the province of Vojvodina in the north of Serbia and Kosovo in the south. Kosovo's borders did not precisely match the areas of ethnic Albanian settlement in Yugoslavia (significant numbers of Albanians were left in the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, while the far north of Kosovo remained largely ethnic Serbian). Nonetheless, the majority of its inhabitants since at least the 1921 census were Albanian. Belligerents Ottoman Empire Balkan League: Bulgaria Greece Montenegro Serbia Commanders Nazim Pasha, Zekki Pasha, Essad Pasha, Abdullah Pasha, Ali Rizah Pasha Ivan Fichev, Vasil Kutinchev, Nikola Ivanov, Radko Dimitriev, Georgi Todorov Crown Prince Constantine, Panagiotis Danglis, Pavlos Kountouriotis King Nicholas I, Prince Danilo Petrović, Mitar Martinović, Janko Vukotić Radomir Putnik... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Tito redirects here. ... Vojvodina (red) is one of Serbias two autonomous provinces Capital (and largest city) Novi Sad Official languages Ethnic groups  2. ... For other uses, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ... Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, according to the 1981 census. ... Ethnic map of Montenegro according to the 2003 census An Albanian minority living in Montenegro constitutes 5. ... There is an Albanian minority living in Central Serbia. ...

Kosovo's formal autonomy, established under the 1945 Yugoslav constitution, initially meant relatively little in practice. Tito's secret police cracked down hard on nationalists. In 1956, a number of [Albanians] were put on trial in Kosovo on charges of espionage and subversion. The threat of separatism was in fact minimal, as the few underground groups aiming for union with Albania were politically insignificant. Their long-term impact was substantial, though, as some—particularly the Revolutionary Movement for Albanian Unity, founded by Adem Demaci—were much later to form the political core of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Demaci himself was imprisoned in 1964 along with many of his followers. UDBA or Uprava državne bezbednosti/sigurnosti/varnosti (Serbian Cyrillic: УДБА or Управа државне безбедности) (State Security Administration, literally state security directorate) was the secret police organization of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ... Adem Demaci (Born 1936 in Pristina Kosovo) is a Kosovo Albanian politician and a longtime political prisoner who spent a total of 28 years in prison for speaking out against the poor treatment of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia as well as criticizing communism and the Tito regime. ... Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës. ...

Yugoslavia underwent a period of economic and political crisis in 1969, as a massive government program of economic reform widened the gap between the rich north and poor south of the country. Student demonstrations and riots in Belgrade in June 1968 spread to Kosovo in November the same year, but were put down by the Yugoslav security forces. However, some of the students' demands—particularly for real representative powers for Albanians on both Serbian and Yugoslav state bodies, and better recognition of the Albanian language—were conceded by Tito. University of Priština was established as an independent institution in 1970, ending a long period when the institution had been run as an outpost of Belgrade University. The Albanianisation of education in Kosovo was hampered by the lack of Albanian-language educational materials in Yugoslavia, so an agreement was struck with Albania itself to supply textbooks. For other uses, see Belgrade (disambiguation). ... Albanian ( IPA ) is a language spoken by 8 million people, primarily in Albania and Serbia (province of Kosovo-Metohija), but also in other parts of the Balkans with an Albanian population (parts of the Republic of Macedonia, and some parts in Montenegro and Serbia), along the eastern coast of Italy... The University of Prishtina or University of PriÅ¡tina (Serbian: Универзитет у Приштини, Albanian: Universiteti i Prishtinës, Latin: Universitas Studiorum Prishtiniensis) is a public university located in Kosovo. ... University of Belgrade is the highest educational institution in Belgrade and Serbia. ...

In 1974, Kosovo's political status was improved still further when a new Yugoslav constitution granted an expanded set of political rights. Along with Vojvodina, it was declared a province and gained many of the powers of a fully-fledged republic: a seat on the federal presidency and its own assembly, police force and national bank. Power was still exercised by the Communist Party, but it was now devolved mainly to ethnic Albanian communists.

Tito's death on May 4, 1980 ushered in a long period of political instability, worsened by growing economic crisis and nationalist unrest. The first major outbreak occurred in Kosovo's main city, Pristina, in March 1981 when Albanian students rioted over long queues in their university canteen. This seemingly trivial dispute rapidly spread throughout Kosovo and took on the character of a national revolt, with massive popular demonstrations in many Kosovo towns. The protesters demanded that Kosovo should become the seventh republic of Yugoslavia. However, this was politically unacceptable to Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia. Some Serbs (and possibly some Albanian nationalists as well) saw the demands as being a prelude to a "Greater Albania" which could encompass parts of Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo itself. The Communist Yugoslav presidency quelled the disturbances by sending in riot police and the army and proclaiming a state of emergency, although it did not repeal the province's autonomy as some Serbian Communists demanded. The Yugoslav press reported that about 11 people had been killed (although others claimed a death toll as high as 1,000) and another 4,200 were imprisoned. is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Prishtinë/Prishtina (Albanian indefinite/definite form) or Priština (Приштина) (Serbian) is the capital city of Kosovo, a landlocked province of Serbia located at 42°65′ N 21°17′ E. It is estimated that the current population of Prishtina is as high as 500,000. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ... The term Greater Albania or Great Albania refers to land which is outside the borders of Albania and Albanian nationalists claim as their own. ... This article is about the country in Europe. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ...

Kosovo's Communist Party also suffered purges, with several key figures (including its president) expelled. Hardliners instituted a fierce crackdown on nationalism of all kinds, Albanian and Serbian alike. Kosovo endured a heavy secret police presence throughout most of the 1980s that ruthlessly suppressed any unauthorised nationalist manifestations, both Albanian and Serbian. According to a report quoted by Mark Thompson, as many as 580,000 inhabitants of Kosovo were arrested, interrogated, interned or reprimanded. Thousands of these lost their jobs or were expelled from their educational establishments. This article is about the Director-General of the BBC. For other individuals with the same name, see Mark Thompson (disambiguation) Mark Thompson (born July 31, 1957) is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4. ...

During this time, tension between the Albanian and Serbian communities continued to escalate. In 1969, the Serbian Orthodox Church had ordered its clergy to compile data on the ongoing problems of Serbs in Kosovo, seeking to pressure the government in Belgrade to do more to protect the Serbian faithful. In February 1982, a group of priests from Serbia proper petitioned their bishops to ask "why the Serbian Church is silent" and why it did not campaign against "the destruction, arson and sacrilege of the holy shrines of Kosovo". Such concerns did attract interest in Belgrade. Stories appeared from time to time in the Belgrade media claiming that Serbs and Montenegrins were being persecuted. There was a genuine perception among Serbian nationalists in particular that Serbs were being driven out of Kosovo. A significant fact contributing to fear and instability was large-scale drug trafficking by mafias of Kosovar Albanians. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Eastern Christianity. ...

An additional factor was the worsening state of Kosovo's economy, which made the province a poor choice for Serbs seeking work. Albanians, as well as Serbs tended to favour their compatriots when employing new recruits, but the number of jobs was in any case too few for the population. To that end, it is believed that a large number of those declaring Albanian ethnicity are in fact from the Roma community who happen to be of Islamic faith. Kosovo was the poorest part of Yugoslavia: in 1979 the average per capita income was $795, compared with the national average of $2,635 (and $5,315 in Slovenia)... Per capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in their country. ...

Kosovo and the rise of Slobodan Milošević (1986–1990)

History of Kosovo
Early history (before 850)
Prehistoric Balkans
Moesia (AD 6 to 850)
Middle Ages (850 to 1455)
First Bulgarian Empire (850 to 1180)
Medieval Serbia
Battle of Kosovo
Ottoman Kosovo (1455 to 1912)
Eyalet of Rumelia
Vilayet of Kosovo
Albanian nationalism
20th century
First Balkan War
Kosovo in the Kingdoms of Serbia and SHS/Yugoslavia
AP Kosovo and Metohija (1946 to 1974)
SAP Kosovo (1974 to 1990)
Kosovo War (1996 to 1999)
UN administration (1999 to 2008)
Republic of Kosovo (since 2008)
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In Kosovo growing Albanian nationalism and separatism led to growing ethnic tensions between Serbs and Albanians. An increasingly poisonous atmosphere led to wild rumours being traded and otherwise trivial incidents being blown out of proportion. Kosovo was formed in 1945. ... Moesia (Greek: , Moisia; Bulgarian: Мизия, Miziya; Serbian: Мезија, Mezija) is an ancient province situated in the areas of modern Serbia and Bulgaria. ... // Slavic peoples According to most historians, Slavs entered the Balkans around the late 6th or early 7th century AD, possibly migrating from the northern Caucasus where Ptolemy placed the Serboi in the 2nd century AD. The initial spread of the Slavic population of the Balkans was much larger than today... Imperial Emblem Bulgarian Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Тhe Serbian medieval history begins in the 5th century AD with the coming of the slavs on the Balkans, and ends with the occupation of Serbia by the Ottoman Empire in 1459 with the fall of the Serbian capital Smederevo. ... This page is about the Battle of Kosovo of 1389; for other battles, see Battle of Kosovo (disambiguation). ... Kosovo from 1455 to 1912 The territory of todays province was for centuries ruled by the Ottoman Empire. ... Map of Rumelia as of 1801 Rumelia (turkish: Rum: Roman El: Land Rumeli: Lands of Rome), the area that was the East Roman or Byzantine Empire, a name commonly used, from the 15th century onwards, to denote the part of the Balkan Peninsula subject to the Ottoman Empire. ... The Province of Kosovo Albanian: Vilajeti i Kosovës; (Turkish: Kosova Vilayeti; Serbian: Косовски вилајет or Kosovski vilajet; Macedonian: Покраина на Косово or Pokraina na Kosovo) was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula only roughly corresponding to the current region of Kosovo. ... // 20th century Following the First Balkan War of 1912, Kosovo was internationally recognised as a part of Serbia and Metohia as a part of Montenegro at the Treaty of London in May 1913. ... Belligerents Ottoman Empire Balkan League: Bulgaria Greece Montenegro Serbia Commanders Nazim Pasha, Zekki Pasha, Essad Pasha, Abdullah Pasha, Ali Rizah Pasha Ivan Fichev, Vasil Kutinchev, Nikola Ivanov, Radko Dimitriev, Georgi Todorov Crown Prince Constantine, Panagiotis Danglis, Pavlos Kountouriotis King Nicholas I, Prince Danilo Petrović, Mitar Martinović, Janko Vukotić Radomir Putnik... Anthem: Bože Pravde [[Image:|250px|center|Location of the Kingdom of Serbia]] Capital Belgrade Largest city Belgrade Serbian Government Monarchy  - King Milan (1882-1889)  - King Aleksandar (1889-1903)  - King Peter I (1903-1918) Proclamation March 6, 1882 Area  - Total  km² ([[List of countries and outlying territories by area|]])  sq... Motto: One nation, one king, one country Anthem: Medley of Bože pravde, Lijepa naÅ¡a domovino, and Naprej zastava slave Capital Belgrade Language(s) Serbo-Croato-Slovenian (see: Serbo-Croat and Slovenian) [1] Government Value specified for government_type does not comply King  - 1918-1921 Peter I  - 1921-1934 Alexander... Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo within SFRY (number 5a) Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo (Serbo-Croatian: Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Albanian: Krahina Socialiste Autonome e Kosovës) was one of the two socialist autonomous provinces of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and one of the federal units of the... The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is an interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

It was against this tense background that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU, from its Serbian initials, САНУ) conducted a survey under Serbs who had left Kosovo in 1985/1986.^[9] The report concluded that a considerable part of those who had left had been under pressure by Albanians to do so. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Serbian: Српска академија наука и уметности) was founded in 1886 as the Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts. ...

Sixteen prominent members of the SANU began work in June 1985 on a draft document that was leaked to the public in September 1986. The SANU Memorandum, as it has become known, was hugely controversial. It focused on the political difficulties facing Serbs in Yugoslavia, pointing to Tito's deliberate hobbling of Serbia's power and the difficulties faced by Serbs outside Serbia proper. The Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts was a draft document produced by a committee of the Serbian Academy from 1985 to 1986. ...

The Memorandum paid special attention to Kosovo, arguing that the province's Serbs were being subjected to "physical, political, legal and cultural genocide" in an "open and total war" that had been ongoing since the spring of 1981. It claimed that Kosovo's status in 1986 was a worse historical defeat for the Serbs than any event since liberation from the Ottomans in 1804, thus ranking it above such catastrophes as the Nazi occupation or the First World War occupation of Serbia by the Austro-Hungarians. The Memorandum's authors claimed that 200,000 Serbs had moved out of the province over the previous twenty years and warned that there would soon be none left "unless things change radically." The remedy, according to the Memorandum, was for "genuine security and unambiguous equality for all peoples living in Kosovo and Metohija [to be] established" and "objective and permanent conditions for the return of the expelled [Serbian] nation [to be] created." It concluded that "Serbia must not be passive and wait and see what the others will say, as it has done so often in the past." Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ...

The SANU Memorandum met with many different reactions. The Albanians saw it as a call for Serbian supremacism at a local level. They claimed that all Serb emigrants had left Kosovo for economic reasons. Other Yugoslav nationalities—notably the Slovenes and Croats—saw a threat in the call for a more assertive Serbia. Serbs themselves were divided: many welcomed it, while the Communist old guard strongly attacked its message. One of those who denounced it was a Serbian Communist Party official named Slobodan Milošević. MiloÅ¡ević redirects here. ...

In November 1988, Kosovo's head of the provincial committee was arrested. In March 1989, Milošević announced an "anti-bureaucratic revolution" in Kosovo and Vojvodina, curtailing their autonomy and imposing a curfew and a state of emergency in Kosovo due to violent demonstrations, resulting in 24 deaths (including two policemen). Milošević and his government claimed that the constitutional changes were necessary to protect Kosovo's remaining Serbs against harassment from the Albanian majority. The term Anti-bureaucratic revolution refers to a series of mass protests against governments of Yugoslavian republics and autonomous provinces during 1988 and 1989, which lead to resignation of leaderships of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Montenegro, and capture of power of politicians close to Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević. While its name is...

Kosovo under direct Serbian rule (1990–1996)

Slobodan Milošević took the process of retrenchment a stage further in 1990 when he revoked the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina and replaced locally chosen leaders with his sympathizers. Crucially, as both provinces had a vote in the eight member Yugoslav Presidency, this gave Milosevic an automatic four votes when combined with Serbia and Montenegro (which was closely allied to Serbia). Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia thus had to maintain an uneasy alliance to prevent Milošević from driving through constitutional changes. Serbia's political changes were ratified in a 5 July 1990 referendum across the entire republic of Serbia, including Kosovo. As a result of these measures more than 80,000 Kosovo Albanians were expelled from their state jobs in Kosovo. A new Serb curriculum was imposed in all higher education in Kosovo-- a move which was rejected by Albanians who responded by creating their parallel education system. This article is about the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A referendum (plural referendums or referenda), ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

The impact on Kosovo was drastic. The reduction of its autonomy was accompanied by the abolition of its political institutions (including the League of Communists of Kosovo), with its assembly and government being formally disbanded. As most of Kosovo's industry was state-owned, the changes brought a wholesale change of corporate cadres. Technically, few were sacked outright: their companies required them to sign loyalty pledges, which most Albanians would not sign, although a few did and remained employed in Serbian state companies right up to 1999. The League of Communists of Kosovo was the Kosovar branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. ...

Albanian cultural autonomy was also drastically reduced. The only Albanian-language newspaper, Ridilin, was banned and TV and radio broadcasts in Albanian ceased. Albanian was no longer an official language of the province. University of Prishtina, seen as a hotbed of Albanian nationalism, was purged: 800 lecturers at Pristina University were sacked and 22,500 of the 23,000 students expelled. Some 40,000 Yugoslav troops and police replaced the original Albanian-run security forces. A punitive regime was imposed that was harshly condemned as a "police state". Poverty and unemployment reached catastrophic levels, with about 80% of Kosovo's population becoming unemployed. As many as a third of adult male Albanians chose to go abroad (particularly to Germany and Switzerland) to find work. University logo University of Prishtina (Albanian: Universiteti i Prishtinës, Serbian: Univerzitet u Prištini) was opened in 1970 in Prishtina, the capital of southern Serbian province of Kosovo. ... A police state is a political condition where the government maintains strict control over society, particularly through suspension of civil rights and often with the use of a force of secret police. ...

With Kosovo's Communist Party effectively broken up by Milošević's crackdown, the dominant Albanian political party position passed to the Democratic League of Kosovo, led by the writer Ibrahim Rugova. It responded to the abolition of Kosovo's autonomy by pursuing a policy of peaceful resistance. Rugova took the very practical line that armed resistance would be futile given Serbia's military strength and would lead only to a bloodbath in the province. He called on the Albanian populace to boycott the Yugoslav and Serbian states by not participating in any elections, by ignoring the military draft (compulsory in Yugoslavia) and most important by not paying any taxes or duties to the State. He also called for the creation of parallel Albanian schools, clinics and hospitals. In September 1991, the shadow Kosovo Assembly organized a referendum on independence for Kosovo. Despite widespread harassment and violence by Serbian security forces, the referendum achieved a reported 90% turnout among the province's Albanians, and a 98% vote—nearly a million votes in all—which approved the creation of an independent "Republic of Kosovo". In May 1992, a second referendum elected Rugova as President of Kosovo. The Serbian government declared that both referendums were illegal and their results null and void. The Democratic League of Kosovo (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës) is the largest political party in Kosovo. ... Prof. ... Conscription is a general term for forced labor demanded by some established authority, e. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A referendum (plural referendums or referenda), ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

The slide to war (1996–1998)

Rugova's policy of passive resistance succeeded in keeping Kosovo quiet during the war with Slovenia, and the wars in Croatia and Bosnia during the early 1990s. However, as evidenced by the emergence of the KLA, this came at the cost of increasing frustration among the Albanian population of Kosovo. In the mid-1990s, Rugova pleaded for a United Nations peacekeeping force for Kosovo. In 1997, Milošević was promoted to the presidency of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (comprising Serbia and Montenegro since its inception in April 1992). This article is about the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... UN redirects here. ... Capital Belgrade Language(s) Serbian Government Republic President  - 1992 - 1993 Dobrica Ćosić  - 1993 - 1997 Zoran Lilić  - 1997 – 2000 Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević  - 2000 - 2003 Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Prime Minister  - 1992 - 1993 Milan Panić  - 1993 - 1998 Radoje Kontić  - 1998 - 2000 Momir Bulatović  - 2000 - 2001 Zoran Žižić  - 2001 - 2003 DragiÅ¡a Pe...

Continuing Serbian repression had radicalized many Albanians, some of whom decided that only armed resistance would effect a change in the situation. On April 22, 1996, four attacks on Serbian security personnel were carried out virtually simultaneously in several parts of Kosovo. A hitherto unknown organization calling itself the "Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA) subsequently claimed responsibility. The nature of the KLA was at first highly mysterious. In fact, it was initially a small, mainly clan-based but not very well organised group of radicalised Albanians, many of whom came from the Drenica region of western Kosovo. The KLA at this stage consisted mainly of local farmers and displaced and unemployed workers.^{[citation needed]} is the 112th day of the year (113th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës. ...

It is widely believed that the KLA received financial and material support from the Kosovo Albanian diaspora, ^[10] and from Albanian drug lords established elsewhere in Europe. ^[11] In early 1997, Albania collapsed into chaos following the fall of President Sali Berisha. Military stockpiles were looted with impunity by criminal gangs, with much of the hardware ending up in western Kosovo and so boosting the growing KLA arsenal. Bujar Bukoshi, shadow Prime Minister in exile (in Zürich, Switzerland), created a group called FARK (Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosova) which was reported to have been disbanded and absorbed by the KLA in 1998.^{[citation needed]}  (born October 15, 1944) is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania. ... Bujar Bukoshi (b. ... For other uses of Zurich, see Zurich (disambiguation). ... Screenshot Fark. ... Forcat e Armatosura të Republikës së Kosovës or FARK, The Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosova (AFRK) was a guerilla group in Kosovo created by Bujar Bukoshi. ...

Most Albanians saw the KLA as legitimate "freedom fighters" whilst the Yugoslav government labelled them as "terrorists" attacking police and civilians. The Contras were often referred to as Freedom Fighters by US President Ronald Reagan. ...

In 1998, the U.S. State Department listed the KLA as a terrorist organization, ^[11], and 1999 the Republican Policy Committee of the U.S. Senate has expressed its troubles with the alliance of the Clinton administration with the KLA due to numerous reports from reputable unofficial sources that the KLA is closely involved with "the extensive Albanian crime network" and with "terrorist organizations motivated by the ideology of radical Islam, including assets of Iran and of the notorious Osama Bin Laden". ^[12] On 2000, a BBC article stated that Nato at War shows how the United States, which had described the KLA as "terrorist", now sought to form a relationship with it. ^[13] The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: ‎; born March 10, 1957[1]), most often mentioned as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden, is a Saudi Arabian militant Islamist and is widely believed to be one of the founders of the organization called al-Qaeda. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

The U.S. envoy Robert Gelbard referred to the KLA as terrorists. ^[14] Respoding to criticism, he later clarified to the House Committee on International Relations that "while it has committed 'terrorist acts,' it has 'not been classified legally by the U.S. Government as a terrorist organization.'" ^[12]. On June 2008, he held talks with two men who claim they are political leaders. ^[14]

It should also be noted that neither the United States nor the other influential powers made any serious effort to stop money or weapons being channeled into Kosovo.^{[citation needed][weasel words]}

Meanwhile, the U.S. held an "outer wall of sanctions" on Yugoslavia which had been tied to a series of issues, Kosovo being one of them. These were maintained despite the agreement at Dayton to end all sanctions. The Clinton administration claimed that Dayton bound Yugoslavia to hold discussions with Rugova over Kosovo.

The crisis escalated in December 1997 at the Peace Implementation Council meeting in Bonn, where the International Community (as defined in the Dayton Agreement) agreed to give the High Representative in Bosnia sweeping powers, including the right to dismiss elected leaders. At the same time, Western diplomats insisted that Kosovo be discussed, and that Serbia and Yugoslavia be responsive to Albanian demands there. The delegation from Serbia stormed out of the meetings in protest.^{[citation needed]} The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, Dayton Accords, Paris Protocol or Dayton-Paris Agreement, is the peace agreement reached at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and formally signed in Paris on December 14...

This was followed by the return of the Contact Group that oversaw the last phases of the Bosnian conflict and declarations from European powers demanding that Serbia solve the problem in Kosovo.

KLA attacks had suddenly intensified, centered on the Drenica valley area, with the compound of one Adem Jashari being a particular focal point. Days after Robert Gelbard described the KLA as a terrorist group, Serbian police responded to the KLA attacks in the Likosane area, and pursued some of the KLA to Cirez, resulting in the deaths of 30 Albanian civilians and four Serbian policemen.^[15] The first serious action of the war had begun. This article is about a region in Kosovo. ... Adem Jashari (November 28, 1955 – March 6, 1998) was born in Drenica, Kosovo. ...

Despite some accusations of summary executions and killings of civilians, condemnations from Western capitals were not as voluble as they would become later. Serb police began to pursue Jashari and his followers in the village of Donje Prekaz. A massive firefight at the Jashari compound led to the killing of a further 60 Albanians, of which eighteen were women and ten were under the age of sixteen.^[16] This March 5 event provoked massive condemnation from the western capitals. Madeleine Albright stated that "this crisis is not an internal affair of the FRY". This article is about the day. ... Madeleine Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová on May 15, 1937) was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State. ...

A Yugoslav Army T-55 tank during a fight

On the 24th of March, Serbian forces surrounded the village of Glodjane, in the Dukagjin operational zone, and attacked a rebel compound there.^[17] Despite their superior firepower, the Serbian forces failed to destroy the KLA unit which had been their objective. Although there were deaths and severe injuries on the Albanian side, the insurgency in Glodjane was far from stamped out. It was in fact to become one of the strongest centers of resistance in the upcoming war. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Yugoslav Peoples Army (Serbo-Croatian Jugoslavenska/Jugoslovenska narodna armija, JNA, Slovene Jugoslovanska ljudska armada, JLA, Macedonian Jugoslovenskata narodna armija, JNA) was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ... The T-54 and T-55 tank series was the Soviet Unions front-line main battle tank from 1947 until 1962, and remains in service throughout the world to this day, especially by former client states of the Soviet Union. ...

Another centre of KLA activity was a part of northern Albania near the border, centered in the town of Tropoje. Following the 1997 Albanian civil conflict, parts of Albania ended up beyond the reach of national authorities. Moreover, the Albanian army's armories were looted. Many of these looted weapons ended up in the hands of the KLA whilst the KLA took over the border area. This was a staging ground for attacks and for shipping weapons to the Drenica stronghold. The path between these areas crossed Djakovica, the plains of Metohija, and to the Klina opstina, and were those areas hardest hit by KLA activity in the beginning.^{[citation needed]} ...

The KLA's first goal was thus to merge its Drenica stronghold with their stronghold in Albania proper, and this would shape the first few months of the fighting. It also appealed for support from the Western and Islamic worlds, including from mujahedin.^{[citation needed]} Mujahideen (مجاهدين; also transliterated as mujāhidīn, mujahedeen, mujahedin, mujahidin, mujaheddin, etc. ...

The Serbs also continued their efforts at diplomacy, attempting to arrange talks with Ibrahim Rugova's staff (talks which Rugova and his staff refused to attend). After several failed meetings, Ratko Marković, chairman of the Serbian delegation to the meetings, invited representatives of Kosovo minority groups to attend and maintained his invitation to the Albanians. Serbian President Milan Milutinović attended one of the meetings, though Rugova did not. He and his staff insisted on talking to Yugoslav officials, not Serbian ones, and only to discuss the modalities of Kosovo independence.^{[citation needed]} Milan Milutinović (Милан Милутиновић), born 19 December 1942, is a former President of Serbia. ...

A new Serbian government was also formed at this time, led by the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Serbian Radical Party. Ultra-nationalist Radical Party chairman Vojislav Šešelj became a deputy prime minister. This increased the dissatisfaction with Serbia's position among Western diplomats and spokespersons. The Socialist Party of Serbia (Serbian: Социјалистичка партија Србије or Socijalistička partija Srbije) is a political party in Serbia. ... For other uses, see Serbian Radical Party (disambiguation). ... A poster for the 2004 presidential elections, for which Å eÅ¡elj himself was not running, due to the fact that he was awaiting trial in The Hague. ...

In early April, Serbia arranged for a referendum on the issue of foreign interference in Kosovo. Serbian voters decisively rejected foreign interference in this internal affair. Meanwhile, the KLA claimed much of the area in and around Decani and ran a territory based in the village of Glodjane, encompassing its surroundings. So, on May 31, 1998, the Yugoslav army and the Serb Ministry of the Interior police began an operation to clear the border of the KLA. This lasted several days and led to bomb threats from the western capitals, including reports which claimed summary executions and killings of civilians. NATO's response to this offensive was mid-June's Operation Determined Falcon, an air show over the Yugoslav borders.^{[citation needed]} Christ Carrying the Cross. ... is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...

During this time, the Yugoslav President Milošević reached an arrangement with Boris Yeltsin of Russia to stop offensive operations and prepare for talks with the Albanians, who, through this whole crisis, refused to talk to the Serbian side, but not the Yugoslav. In fact, the only meeting between Milošević and Ibrahim Rugova took place on 15 May, in Belgrade, two days after Richard Holbrooke announced that it would take place. One month later, Holbrooke, after a trip to Belgrade where he threatened to Milosevic that if he did not obey "what's left of your country will implode", he visited the border areas affected by the fighting in early June; there he was famously photographed with the KLA. The publication of these images sent a signal to the KLA, its supporters and sympathisers, and to observers in general, that the U.S. was decisively backing the KLA. Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (born April 24, 1941) is an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, Peace Corps official, and investment banker. ...

The Yeltsin agreement included Milosevic's allowing international representatives to set up a mission in Kosovo-Metohija to monitor the situation there. This was the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission (KOM) that began operations in early July. The American government welcomed this part of the agreement, but denounced the initiative's call for a mutual cease fire. Rather, the Americans demanded that the Serbian-Yugoslavian side should cease fire "without linkage...to a cessation in terrorist activities". Kosovo (known in Albanian as Kosova, in Serbian as Косово и Метохија / Kosovo i Metohija, and in English simply as Kosovo) is a province in southern Serbia. ... The Kom are one of the principal tribes of the North-West province of Cameroon, where traditional government institutions are very important. ...

All through June and into mid July, the KLA maintained its advance. KLA surrounded Peć, Djakovica, and had set up an interim capital in the town of Mališevo (to the north of Orahovac). The KLA troops were infiltrating Suva Reka, and north to the area west of Priština. They threatened the Belacevec coal pits and captured them in late June, threatening energy supplies in the region. Peć (Albanian: Pejë / Peja; Serbian: Пећ / Peć) is a city located in the western part of Kosovo (under UN-administration, formally part of Serbia). ... Đakovica (Cyrillic: Ђаковица) (in Albanian Gjakova or Gjakovë) is a city located in Kosovo, at 42. ... MaliÅ¡evo (Serbian Малишево; Albanian Malishevë or Malisheva) is a town and municipality in the Prizren District of Kosovo (under UN-administration, formally part of Serbia). ... Orahovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Ораховац or Latin alphabet: Orahovac, Albanian: Rahovec or Rahoveci) is a town and municipality in western Kosovo, a Serbian province under UN administration. ... Suhareka, Kosovo 2000 Suva Reka ( Albanian Suharekë or Suhareka in Serbian: Suva Reka or Сува Река) is a town and municipality in Kosovo. ...

The tide turned in mid-July when the KLA captured Orahovac. On the 17th of July 1998 in the two close by villages to Orahovac, Retimlije and Opteruša, all the Serb males were kidnapped and later found dead. Similar, even if less systematic incidents took place in the town of Orahovac and the larger Serb village Ve