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NATO's
role in Kosovo
 Kosovo
lies in southern Serbia and has a mixed population of which the majority
are ethnic Albanians. Until 1989, the region enjoyed a high degree of
autonomy within the former Yugoslavia, when Serbian leader Slobodan
Milosevic altered the status of the region, removing its autonomy and
bringing it under the direct control of Belgrade, the Serbian capital.
The Kosovar Albanians strenuously opposed the move.
See
also:
| Operation
Allied Force - 23
March-10 June 1999 |
 NATO
intervened in Kosovo to halt a humanitarian catastrophe and restore
stability in a strategic region lying between Alliance member states.
Despite strains, the Alliance held together during 78 days of air strikes
in which more than 38,000 sorties - 10,484 of them strike sorties -
were flown without a single Allied fatality.
See
also:
- Operation
Allied Force: Operational updates, transcripts
of the morning and afternoon press briefings, maps,
aerial views, videos and high resolution photos
| Operation
Joint Guardian (KFOR) - 11
June 1999- |
 NATO
forms the core of the international peacekeeping mission to Kosovo,
or Kosovo Force (KFOR), in which some 46,000 military personnel from
39 countries are deployed. The mission is seeking to build a secure
environment within the Serbian province in which all citizens, irrespective
of their ethnic origins, can live in peace and, with international aid,
democracy can begin to grow.
See
also:
| "Kosovo
One Year On: Achievement and Challenge" |
Report by Lord Robertson of Port Ellen,
Secretary General of NATO, one year later (21 March 2000)
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