The Kosovo War: Years, Causes, Results

In February 1998, Albanian separatists living in Kosovo and Metohija launched armed demonstrations aimed at separating these territories from Yugoslavia. The conflict that arose in connection with this, called the "Kosovo War", lasted for ten years and ended with the official declaration of the independence of these lands and the creation of an independent republic.

Historical roots of the problem

This conflict, as it often happened throughout the history of mankind, began on religious grounds. The composition of the population of Kosovo and Metohija before the Second World War was mixed, consisting of Albanian Muslims and Serbian Christians. Despite the long-term cohabitation, the relationship between them was extremely hostile.

As evidenced by historical materials, even in the Middle Ages on the territory of modern Kosovo and Metohija, the core of the Serbian state was formed. Since the middle of the 14th century and for the next four centuries, there was a residence of the Serbian patriarch there, near the town of Pecs, which gave the edge the significance of the center of the spiritual life of the people. Proceeding from this, in the conflict that caused the beginning of the Kosovo war, the Serbs referred to their historical rights, and their opponents-Albanians - only to ethnic.

Infringement of the rights of Christians in the province

At the end of the Second World War, these territories were forcibly annexed to Yugoslavia, although the majority of inhabitants were extremely negative about this. They were not satisfied even with the formally granted status of autonomy, and after the death of the head of state, I. Tito, they demanded independence. However, the authorities not only did not satisfy their demands, but also deprived them of autonomy. As a result, Kosovo in 1998 soon turned into a boiling cauldron.

The current situation had a very negative impact on the economy of Yugoslavia and on its political and ideological state. In addition, the Kosovo Serbs - Christians, who found themselves in a minority among the Muslims of the region and who were subjected to severe harassment on their part - significantly exacerbated the situation. To force the authorities to respond to their petitions, the Serbs were forced to commit several protest marches to Belgrade.

Criminal inactivity of authorities

Soon the government of Yugoslavia formed a working group to solve the problem and sent it to Kosovo. After a detailed review of the situation, all claims of the Serbs were recognized as justified, but no decisive measures were taken. After a while, the newly elected head of the Yugoslav communists, S. Milosevic, also arrived there, but his visit only contributed to the aggravation of the conflict, as he caused the bloody clashes of Serbian demonstrators with the police, fully staffed by Albanians.

Establishment of the Kosovo Army

The next stage of the conflict was the creation of the Democratic League party, the supporters of the Kosovo and Metohija division, who led anti-government speeches and the formation of a government that called on the population to refuse to subordinate the central government. The response to this was mass arrests of activists. However, the large-scale punitive measures only led to an aggravation of the situation. With the help of Albania, Kosovo separatists created armed groups, called the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). This was the beginning of the infamous Kosovo war, which lasted until 2008.

About when exactly the Albanian separatists created their armed forces, there are several conflicting reports. Some researchers are inclined to consider the unification of several formerly operating armed groups as the moment of their birth, but the Hague Tribunal considered the beginning of the army's activity in 1990, when the first armed attacks on police stations were registered. However, a number of authoritative sources refer to this event by 1992 and associate it with the adoption by the separatists of the decision to create clandestine combat groups.

There are numerous evidences of those who participated in the events of those years that before 1998 the training of militants was carried out in compliance with the requirements of conspiracy in numerous sports clubs in Kosovo. When the Yugoslav war became an obvious reality, the classes were continued on the territory of Albania and were openly conducted by instructors of American and British special services.

The beginning of the bloodshed

Active hostilities began on February 28, 1998, after the official declaration of the KLA on the beginning of the war for Kosovo's independence. Following this, the separatists committed a series of attacks on police stations. In response, Yugoslav troops attacked several settlements in Kosovo and Metohija. The victims of their actions were eighty people, most of them women and children. This act of violence against civilians has aroused wide resonance throughout the world.

The escalation of war

In the following months, the war in Kosovo broke out with renewed vigor, and by the autumn of that year more than a thousand civilians had become its victims. A mass outflow of the population of all faiths and nationalities began with the war-torn territory. In regard to those who for one reason or another could not or did not want to leave their homeland, the Yugoslav military carried out numerous crimes, repeatedly covered in the media. The world community tried to influence the government of Belgrade, and the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on this matter.

The document envisaged, as a last resort, the beginning of the bombing of Yugoslavia in the event of continued violence. This measure of intimidation had a certain effect, and in October 1998 a truce was signed, but despite this, the Kosovars continued to perish at the hands of Yugoslav soldiers, and from the beginning of the next year the hostilities resumed in full.

Attempts at a peaceful settlement of the conflict

The Kosovo war attracted even more attention to the world community after the Yugoslav military had shot forty-five civilians accused of separatists in late January 1999 in the town of Rachaka. This crime caused a wave of outrage throughout the world. The following month, negotiations took place in France between the representatives of the warring parties, but, despite all the efforts of the UN representatives present, they did not bring positive results.

In the course of the talks, representatives of the Western countries supported Kosovo separatists who stood for Kosovo's independence, while Russian diplomats accepted the side of Yugoslavia, lobbying for its demands aimed at the integrity of the state. Belgrade considered an unacceptable ultimatum put forward by the NATO countries, and as a result, bombardments of Serbia began in March. They continued for three months until the head of Yugoslavia, S. Milosevic, issued an order in June to withdraw troops from Kosovo. However, the Kosovo war was far from over.

Peacekeepers on Kosovo land

Subsequently, when events in Kosovo became the subject of an international tribunal meeting in The Hague, NATO representatives explained the beginning of the bombings by the desire to end ethnic cleansing carried out by the Yugoslav secret services against the Albanian part of the population of the province.

However, from the materials of the case it followed that such crimes against humanity, although they took place, but were committed already after the beginning of the air strikes, were, although illegal, but provoked by their reaction. The statistics of those years show that the Kosovo war of 1998-1999 and the bombing of Yugoslav territory by NATO forces forced more than one hundred thousand Serbs and Montenegrins to leave their homes and seek salvation outside the war zone.

Mass exodus of civilians

In June of the same year, according to the UN declaration, a contingent of peacekeeping forces was formed on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, consisting of NATO and Russian troops. Soon it was possible to reach an agreement with representatives of Albanian militants on the ceasefire, but, despite everything, local clashes continued, and dozens of civilians died in them. The total number of victims continued to grow steadily.

This was the reason for the mass outflow from Kosovo of the two hundred and fifty thousand Christians who lived there - the Serbs and Montenegrins, and their forced resettlement to Serbia and Montenegro. Some of them returned back after the Republic of Kosovo was proclaimed in 2008, but their number was very small. So, according to the UN, in 2009 it was only seven hundred people, a year later it increased to eight hundred, but then it began to decline year after year.

Proclamation of independence of Kosovo and Metohija

In November 2001, Albanian separatists held elections on their territory, which resulted in the formation of a government headed by I. Rugova. The next step was the declaration on the independence of the province and the creation of an independent state on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. It is understandable that the Yugoslav government did not consider their actions legitimate, and the war in Kosovo continued, although it took the form of a protracted, hardly smoldering conflict, which nevertheless carried away hundreds of lives.

In 2003, an attempt was again made in Vienna to sit down at the negotiating table and find a way to resolve the conflict, but it was as inconclusive as it was four years ago. The end of the war is considered to be the statement of the Kosovo authorities on February 18, 2008, in which they, unilaterally, declared the independence of Kosovo and Metohija.

The problem left unresolved

By that time Montenegro had separated from Yugoslavia, and the once united state ceased to exist in the form it had at the beginning of the conflict. The Kosovo war, whose causes were of an ethnic and religious nature, was over, but the mutual hatred of the representatives of the previously opposing sides remained. This and to this day creates an atmosphere of tension and instability in the region.

The fact that the Yugoslav war went beyond the confines of the local conflict and involved wide circles of the world community in solving its problems has become an additional reason for the West and Russia to resort to a demonstration of force within the escalation of the hidden "cold war". Fortunately, it had no consequences. The Republic of Kosovo, proclaimed after the end of hostilities, is still the reason for discussions between diplomats of different countries.