ASSESMENT OF THE DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS OF THE CONTACT GROUP TO STOP SERBIAN ATROCITIES IN KOSOVO IN EARLY 1998

Abstract

The situation in Kosovo at the end of 1997 and the beginning of 1998 was extremely tense with the open threat of a war between the Serbian army and police against the KLA formations. The Serbian police had begun a series of attacks against Albanian villages since the beginning of 1998. Ethnic Albanians, who at that time constituted slightly more than 90% of the population of Kosovo, were demanding their independence in a series of demonstrations and protests. The Belgrade government was using brutal violence to suppress these demands. In response to these Serbian actions, the KLA began to intensify its guerrilla operations. The international community was divided on how to respond to developments in Kosovo. Russia accused the KLA of worsening the situation, drawing attention to the attacks by the KLA, which it called a terrorist organization. The United States accused Belgrade of the violence in Kosovo. The United States argued that the international response should not exclude military pressure. The Italians and Germans supported diplomatic pressure on both sides, so as a compromise, we have the lifting of a series of sanctions imposed by the Contact Group on the Yugoslav Federation. After the fighting at the end of February 1998 in the villages of Likoshan and Qirez, which resulted in the killing of Albanian civilians in retaliation for the actions of the KLA, and especially after the massacre of the Jashari families by police and military forces on 5, 6 and 7 March, the international community, through the Contact Group, began a series of diplomatic actions to prevent new escalations of the situation, which seemed inevitable. Among the actions that should be assessed is the statement made at the Joint Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Contact Group held on 9 March in London, in which it was underlined that the series of violence and violations of civil rights and freedoms, and especially the killings of civilians in Kosovo last week, cannot be considered simply as an internal matter. Further in this statement it is understood that an agreement had been reached for the Chief Prosecutor of the War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to investigate anyone who may have been involved in violations of international humanitarian law. The most important action is the joint statement of the Contact Group, issued at its meeting held in London on 9 March 1998, which raised alarming concerns about recent developments in Kosovo, clearly addressing the responsibility of the FRY of Yugoslavia and announcing a series of actions to prevent further escalation of the situation, which will be extensively described in this paper.