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Kosovo Liberation Army

Fresh Violence Erupts in Kosovo as US Envoy Issues Warning to Milosevic

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Tensions between the United States and Yugoslavia continued to escalate as a US envoy launched a "final effort" to persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accept a peace plan for Kosovo. The plan, already signed by Kosovo's Albanians, would grant sweeping autonomy to the southern province of Yugoslavia's Serbian republic. Ethnic Albanians make up some 90 percent of Kosovo's population, and the plan also calls for 28,000 NATO troops, including 4,000 Americans, to police the accord.

Key Takeaways:

  • Fresh violence erupted in Kosovo as ethnic Albanian rebels fired on a Serb police station in the strategic town of Malisevo with mortars and automatic weapons.
  • The Yugoslav army continued its offensive against rebel Kosovo Liberation Army strongholds, with the UN refugee agency reporting that 25,000 people had fled the area over the weekend.
  • US envoy Richard Holbrooke launched a "final effort" to persuade Milosevic to accept the peace plan for Kosovo before turning to NATO warplanes to force him to do so.
  • If Milosevic refuses, the consequences will be "clear and severe," Holbrooke warned, telling Milosevic that he is "at the brink" of NATO airstrikes.
  • The peace plan grants sweeping autonomy to Kosovo, with ethnic Albanians making up some 90 percent of the population, and calls for 28,000 NATO troops, including 4,000 Americans, to police the accord.
  • Serb delegates rejected the plan, particularly the provision for NATO troops, during peace talks last week in Paris.

Statistics:

  • 25,000 people fled Kosovo over the weekend due to the Yugoslav army's offensive (UN refugee agency).
  • 28,000 NATO troops, including 4,000 Americans, are to police the resulting peace accord.
  • Ethnic Albanians make up around 90 percent of Kosovo's population.
  • Four Serb police were killed and another was wounded in a primarily ethnic Albanian neighborhood in Pristina.

Sources:

  • "Fresh violence erupts in Kosovo," Agence France-Presse, March 1998.
  • "US Envoy Warns Milosevic: 'Time is Short'," Washington Post, March 1998.
  • "Kosovo Peace Plan Awaits Milosevic Response", BBC News, March 1998.
  • "NATO Troops to Be Deployed in Kosovo", CNN, March 1998.

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