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Hundreds of ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo were killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes earlier this year, as the Serbian army tried to suppress the growing separatist movement there. Many towns in Kosovo were reduced to rubble as the Serbian army waged the largest military operation since the end of the war in Bosnia.
Concerned that the fighting could escalate into another war in the former Yugoslavia, leaders from Europe and the United States met last summer to try to find a peaceful end to the conflict. Their efforts to end the crisis showed no signs of success, however, and diplomats warned that foreign intervention could not solve the problem. "The parties have to decide for themselves what they want," said the United States’ envoy to the region, Robert Gelbard.
The Drive for Independence
People of Albanian descent comprise 90 percent of the 2 million people who live in Kosovo. Most feel persecuted by the Serbs and would like to establish an independent state. To achieve that end, since 1996 the Kosovo Liberation Army, a guerrilla group, has been fighting the Serbian army.
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Until 1989 Kosovo enjoyed considerable autonomy within Serbia. But that year Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic revoked the region’s autonomy as part of his program of Serbian nationalism—the same policy that provoked a bloody civil war in Bosnia.
The United States does not support independence for Kosovo, but it has condemned Serbia for its actions in the region. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned that the United States would not "stand by and watch the Serbian authorities do in Kosovo what they can no longer get away with doing in Bosnia." The United States has urged Milosevic to sit down and negotiate with the Kosovar leadership and to allow outside observers to monitor conditions in the region.
- Where is Kosovo and why do most of its residents want independence?Answer
- How did the policies of Slobodan Milosevic worsen conditions for the ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo?Answer
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