The International Community's Diplomatic Efforts to Stop the War in Kosovo: Achievements and Challenges

Abstract

The proposed topic for treatment was not determined by chance, but as a result of an intensive search for official documents (Contact Group meetings, declarations, agreements and press conferences), which intensified and became more dynamic precisely at the end of 1997 and continued with increasing intensity until March 1999, namely until the Rambouillet Conference. The situation in Kosovo at the end of 1997 and at 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 launched a series of attacks against Albanian villages since the beginning of 1998. Ethnic Albanians, who at that time constituted a little more than 90% of the population of Kosovo, demanded 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. During this period, the international community was divided on how to respond to developments in Kosovo. Russia accused the KLA of aggravating 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 from both sides, so as a compromise we have the lifting of a series of sanctions imposed by the Contact Group (Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the United States of America) on the Yugoslav Federation.

Received: 20 April 2025 / Accepted: 2 June 2025 / Published: 25 June 2025