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Kosovo Liberation Army

Kosovo Leader Agrees to International Protectorate, Seeks Independence

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Kosovar Albanian leader Hashim Thaci has agreed to the possibility of an open-ended deployment of foreign troops to protect the ethnic-Albanian province, while refusing to back away from the demand for eventual independence from Belgrade. Thaci, the Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed provisional government of Kosovo, met with Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo and stated that an international protectorate would be a transitional solution on the way to independence. The situation is deteriorating, with Thaci's former leader, Ibrahim Rugova, being marginalized by his less pacifist comrades. Thaci was vague about the terms of the post-war transition period and the structure of the international protectorate, which could include military and civilian bodies, led by NATO, the United Nations, or the OSCE.

Key Takeaways:

  • Hashim Thaci, the Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed provisional government of Kosovo, has agreed to an international protectorate to protect the ethnic-Albanian province.
  • The protectorate is envisioned as a transitional solution on the way to independence from Belgrade.
  • Thaci refused to back away from the demand for eventual independence from Belgrade.
  • Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo met with moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova, who agreed to attend a meeting of the Kosovo delegation to the failed Rambouillet talks.
  • Rugova, who was elected in Kosovo before last year's crackdown by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, has been marginalized by his less pacifist comrades.
  • Thaci was vague about the terms of the post-war transition period and the structure of the international protectorate.
  • The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has rejected the disarmament demands in the recent peace plan agreed to by the G7 and Russia.

Statistics:

  • 1999: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic initiated a crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
  • 1999: Hashim Thaci's Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was radicalized and mobilized world opinion.
  • 1999: Rambouillet talks failed to reach an agreement on the future of Kosovo.
  • 1999: Albania's Foreign Minister Paskal Milo met with Ibrahim Rugova in Italy to discuss the Kosovo delegation to the failed Rambouillet talks.

Sources:

  • United Press International (1999, May 25)

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