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Kosovo Liberation Army

Kosovo Repatriation Efforts Underway Amidst Tensions

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Kosovar Serbs marked the 610th anniversary of the defeat at Kosovo Polje, which fuels their nationalist attachment to the province, while the United Nations began busing ethnic Albanian refugees back across the border to their homes. The repatriation efforts come despite continued tensions between the Serb minority and returning ethnic Albanians, with some bent on retaliation for the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by President Slobodan Milosevic's Serb-led Yugoslav forces. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) also began handing in machine guns and other heavy weapons for storage as part of a demilitarization pledge made by the KLA leadership June 21.

Key Takeaways:

  • There are nearly 400,000 ethnic Albanian Kosovar refugees left to be shuttled back to Kosovo, after nearly 460,000 others returned to the province on their own.
  • The repatriation efforts are under way despite continued tensions between the Serb minority and returning ethnic Albanians, some bent on retaliation for the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by President Slobodan Milosevic's Serb-led Yugoslav forces.
  • The KLA has begun handing in machine guns and other heavy weapons for storage as part of a demilitarization pledge made by the KLA leadership June 21.
  • British Maj. Richard Bennett said a 30-foot plume of smoke was sent into the air around 8 p.m. due to a controlled explosion in Vranjevac, a suburb of Pristina, caused by the planned detonation of a cache of anti-tank mines found at the barracks.
  • Officials expect to return about 400 refugees in the first series of bus trips, which is to become a regular shuttle run between the refugees' camps near the Kosovo borders and the provincial capital Pristina.
  • KFOR's Commander, Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson, says his forces are insufficient to control any major violent situation and fears that old scores are being paid off between the Serb minority and returning ethnic Albanians.
  • The disarmament of the KLA is reportedly progressing late today, with Gurkhas at one collection point filling two large bins with machine guns and anti-tank rockets.
  • An expected force of some 3,000 police, under U.N. auspices, has been delayed, leaving enforcement to the military personnel of KFOR, and 'No matter how well organized, trained, equipped and led, military troops are not going to be able to do police duties like policemen,' NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark said.
  • In an effort to defuse the tensions and begin reconstruction of the beleaguered province, the interim head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, Sergio Vieira de Mello, is setting up a council of Albanian and Serb representatives to deal with the security of all citizens of Kosovo.

Statistics:

  • Nearly 400,000 ethnic Albanian Kosovar refugees are left to be shuttled back to Kosovo.
  • Nearly 460,000 ethnic Albanian Kosovar refugees have already returned to the province on their own.
  • Two British Gurkhas were killed during an explosives removal mission earlier this month.
  • The repatriation efforts are expected to continue with about 400 refugees returned in the first series of bus trips.
  • KFOR's force size is insufficient to control any major violent situation, with an expected force of some 3,000 police under U.N. auspices being delayed.

Sources:

  • United Press International
  • BBC
  • Radio Pancevo
  • Itar-Tass news service
  • NBC television
  • The Sunday Observer

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