| 1989-90 |
Amidst
rising nationalism in Serbia, Kosovo’s constitutional
status as an autonomous province is revoked. Tens of thousands
of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, who make up 90 percent
of the population, lose their jobs. Special police forces
begin a decade of repression. |
1991 |
In a secret referendum, Kosovar Albanians
vote for a Republic of Kosovo independent of Yugoslavia.
|
1991-92 |
The Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia begins to disintegrate. Wars begin in the former
republics of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The international community imposes sanctions on Yugoslavia.
The Kosovar Albanians begin nonviolent resistance to Belgrade’s
oppressive rule. |
1993 |
The United Nations Security Council establishes the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in
The Hague. |
1995 |
The Dayton Accords end the war in Bosnia, but Kosovo is
not on the agenda. |
1996 |
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) begins more coordinated
attacks against Serbian police in Kosovo. |
1997 |
In October, Serbian police break
up Kosovar Albanian student demonstrations demanding better
Albanian-language education. The KLA increases its attacks
against the police. Opposition rallies and student demonstrations
in Serbia protest electoral fraud by President Slobodan
Milosevic in late 1997 and early 1998. |
1998
February/
March |
Serbian forces attack the neighboring villages of Likosane
(Likoshane) and Cirez (Qirez) in Kosovo’s Drenica
region, killing twenty-five ethnic Albanians. Shortly
thereafter, special police attack the family compound
of Adem Jashari, a local KLA leader, in Donji Prekaz (Prekaz
e Ulet), killing an estimated fifty-eight members of the
family. The attacks mobilize the ethnic Albanian community
and swell the ranks of the KLA. On March 31, the UN Security
Council adopts Resolution 1160 condemning the excessive
use of force by the Serbian police force against civilians
in Kosovo and establishes an arms embargo against Yugoslavia.
|
Mid-May |
Serbian and Yugoslav forces launch
an offensive in western Kosovo along the border with Albania,
apparently intended to sever supply routes of the KLA.
Approximately 45,000 ethnic Albanians flee into Albania
or Montenegro, sometimes under fire from the police and
army. Government forces burn most villages in the region.
|
July |
The KLA mounts its first major offensive, an attack on
the town of Orahovac (Rrahovec). Approximately forty Serbs
go missing and at least forty-two ethnic Albanians are
killed when the police retake the town after two days.
The government begins a summer-long anti-insurgency campaign
that leaves hundreds dead and more than 200,000 internally
displaced.
|
September |
Serbian forces kill twenty-one members of the Deliaj
family, mostly women and children,
in Gornje Obrinje (Abri e Eperme). In nearby Golubovac
(Golubofc), thirteen men are executed.
|
October |
Milosevic agrees to a cease-fire and the deployment of
a monitoring mission run by
OSCE—the Kosovo Verification Mission. |
1999
Januray 15 |
Serbian
forces kill forty-five ethnic Albanians in Racak, prompting
international outcry and calls for a more forceful international
response. |
February
16 |
Talks
with Kosovar Albanians, the Serbian government, and the
international community begin in Rambouillet, France.
After a break in the talks, the Albanians sign the agreement
but the Serbian delegation refuses. |
March
19 |
The Kosovo Verification Mission withdraws from Kosovo.
The next day, Serbian and Yugoslav armed units launch
an offensive in parts of Kosovo, driving thousands of
ethnic Albanians out of their homes. |
March 24 |
NATO begins bombing Yugoslavia. The
Serbian and Yugoslav government offensive escalates dramatically.
Over the next eleven weeks, more than 800,000 Kosovar
Albanians are forcibly expelled. As many as 10,000 are
killed. |
May 14 |
Seventy Kosovar Albanian villagers
in Cuska, Pavljan, and Zahac, east of Pec, are murdered
in early morning raids. |
May 27 |
Slobodan
Milosevic and four other Serbian and Yugoslav leaders
are indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal for crimes
against humanity committed in Kosovo.
|
June 9 |
NATO
and Yugoslav forces sign the Military Technical Agreement
to stop the bombing and allow for the deployment of NATO
troops in Kosovo. |
June 10 |
The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1244 on Kosovo
which mandates a UN administration in the province. Kosovo
is to remain a part of Yugoslavia. |
July 23 |
Unidentified individuals murder fourteen Serbian farmers
near the Kosovo village of Gracko in the largest single
killing of Kosovo’s minorities since the entry
of NATO. Throughout 1999, 2000 and 2001, Serbs, Roma,
Bosniaks and other non-ethnic Albanians are harassed,
attacked or killed, forcing the departure from the province
of at least 150,000 people. Minorities who remain in
Kosovo are forced to live in mono-ethnic enclaves with
around-the-clock NATO protection.
|
