There Kosovo war was fought between February 1998 and June 1999 by the forces of BORN and from Yugoslav Federation during the Yugoslav wars. The main reasons can be found in the ethnic tensions present in the Balkan region. Kosovo is in fact a territory inhabited by a Albanian majority and from one Serbian minority. For many years it was part of the territory of Serbia. In the 1990s, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, tensions between ethnic Serb Kosovars and ethnic Albanian Kosovars caused armed clashes and massacres. To the brutalities of the KLA, the Kosovo Liberation Army, which represented the Albanian population, the Serbian troops, sent from Belgrade, responded with even more serious atrocities. In 1999 the United Statesinterested in extending their influence over new territories in central-eastern Europe, and through a bombing campaign conducted together with NATO allies forced the Serbs to retreat. The conflict opened the doors toindependence of Kosovoproclaimed in 2008 but not universally recognized.
What is Kosovo
The Kosovo it is one Limited recognition status as well as a territory of the Balkansjust over 10,000 km long2 (about the size of Abruzzo), inhabited by a majority of ethnic Albanians and a Serbian minority. He was part of it of Serbia for a long timewhich in turn until 1991 was part of Yugoslavia (made up of six republics: Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia). Until the 1980s, Kosovo enjoyed special autonomy. The Serbs, however, have always considered it an integral part of their country, also because it had been the scene of a historic battle, that of Piana dei Merli (Kosovo Polje) of 1389 against the Ottomans, which plays an important role in the national identity of Serbia.
At the beginning of the 90s wars began in the Balkans which, in the space of a few years, brought Yugoslav republics at independence. Kosovo was not one of the republics of Yugoslavia, but a “piece” of Serbia. Nonetheless, autonomist and independence impulses equally developed, above all because Slobodan Milosevicthe leader of Serbia, had stripped the territory of its autonomy.
Tensions in Kosovo and international relations in the 1990s
At the beginning of the 1990s the Kosovo Assembly, a sort of local parliament, proclaimed the birth of Republican autonomous state of which he was leader Ibrahim Rugova. The latter followed a non-violent approach, based on passive resistanceand declared that he wanted to protect the rights of the Serbian minority. However, an armed organization was also born among the Kosovars, theKLA (Kosovo Liberation Army), which instead followed a different approach and was responsible for violence and atrocities against Serbian citizens. In 1998 the conflict intensified, the KLA occupied large territories and Milosevic called in the Serbian armywho reacted extremely harshly. Atrocities and massacres were committed on both sides.
The question became intertwined with the international geopolitical dynamics. The 1990s were the period in which the United States, the winner of the Cold War, was the only existing superpower and exercised an almost global influence. Russia, after the dissolution of the USSR, was in crisis and China had not yet emerged as a power. The United States could therefore act regardless of their reactions and decided to support the cause of Kosovowith the aim of weakening Serbia (Russia’s historical ally) and extending its influence in the Balkans, guaranteeing the alliance of another territory.
The NATO attack on Serbia: military operations of the Kosovo war
In 1999 the situation worsened. The Serbian army was responsible for massacres and atrocities against the ethnic Albanian Kosovar population, part of which was forced to flee, and the United States, led by President Bill Clintonthey decided to intervene militarily. Together with their NATO allies, they initiated a aerial bombing campaignjustifying it as a reaction to the atrocities committed by the Serbs, but also carried out in order to remove another territory from the Russian sphere of influence. Italy itself participated in the operations, albeit partially: it allowed NATO planes to take off from bases in its territory, but it did not send its forces to fight. On an international level, the attack provoked strong protests from Russia and China, which however were in no position to react.
The bombings, known as Operation Allied Forcelasted from 24 March to 11 June 1999. NATO employed around 1000 aircraft, which carried out over 38,000 missions, hitting both Serbian military installations (in Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro, then still united with Serbia) and units on the terrain (tanks, other military vehicles). The bombings caused a diplomatic incident when they hit the Chinese embassy in Belgrade: the American administration declared that the attack had occurred by mistake and apologized, but the explanation did not convince the Chinese. NATO, however, he did not intervene with ground troopsleaving the KLA to fight on the ground.
The end of the war and the peace agreement
Serbia could not resist the NATO attack and at the beginning of June 1999 President Milosevic was forced to accept a peace agreement, which provided for the complete withdrawal of Serbian troops from Kosovo and the entry of a multinational force, the KFOR. Kosovo thus became a sort of NATO protectoratede facto independent from Serbia.
The victims of the Kosovo war
The victims of the Kosovo war were numerous. The Serbs lost around 1000 soldiers and an estimated number of civilians between 1600 and 2500. Around 230,000 Kosovars of ethnic Serbs or Roma were forced to flee. The Albanian Kosovars lost 1500-2000 fighters and around 8,000 civilians: over 800,000 inhabitants had to temporarily leave their homes. NATO suffered no combat casualties. THE material damage suffered by Serbia and Kosovo were hugealso due to the use of depleted uranium shells by US troops.
The long-term consequences of the Kosovo War
In the 2008 The Kosovo he proclaimed independence, but it enjoys only partial recognition: it is recognized by Western countries (with some exceptions), but not by Serbia, Russia, China and other states. Furthermore, the interethnic tensions and the country’s Serbian minority, present above all in the North, believes it is discriminated against by the ethnic Albanian majority.
