Kosovo and U.S. Policy

Abstract

In 1998 and 1999, the United States and its NATO allies attempted to put an end to escalating violence between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Yugoslav/Serb forces in Yugoslavia's Kosovo province. These efforts culminated in a 78-day NATO bombing campaign (Operation Allied Force) against Serbia from March until June 1999, when then-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic agreed to withdraw his forces from the province. Since then, Kosovo has been governed by a combination of U.N. and local Kosovar governing structures. The U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), under the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, retains ultimate political authority in the province. A NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR, is charged with providing a secure environment. In May 2001, UNMIK issued a Constitutional Framework for Kosovo that provided for an elected provisional legislature and government with limited powers but did not address Kosovo s final status. UNSC Resolution 1244 calls for Kosovo s final status to be considered at an undetermined time after an autonomous government is in place. Almost all ethnic Albanians want independence for Kosovo; Serbs say it should remain within Serbia. In late 2003, the international community agreed to review Kosovo s progress in meeting international standards and consider next steps in determining Kosovo s future status by mid-2005. The sudden outbreak of widespread anti-Serbian riots in March 2004, the worst inter-ethnic violence experienced in Kosovo since 1999, set back progress in many areas and called into question the effectiveness of international policy on Kosovo. In June 2005, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide to launch a comprehensive review of the Kosovo standards. In October, following completion of Eide s review, the U.N. Security Council endorsed the start of status negotiations for Kosovo. Former Finnish President Martii Ahtisaari has been named to be lead U.N. envoy for the talks.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 09, 2006
Accession Number
ADA473482

Entities

People

  • Julie Kim
  • Steven Woehrel

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Ethnic Groups
  • European Union
  • Governments
  • International Relations
  • Judiciary
  • Law
  • Market Economy
  • Minority Groups
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • Personnel Management
  • Societies
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Sociology

Readers

  • International Relations and Conflict Resolution