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Kosovo

NATO Summit Dominated by Kosovo Crisis as Clinton Calls for Global Unity

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The 50th-anniversary NATO summit, set to begin today, has been overshadowed by the ongoing Kosovo crisis, with President Clinton and other leaders calling for a unified response to the conflict. The Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, has offered to accept an international presence under U.N. oversight to protect ethnic Albanians in the beleaguered Serbian province, but the details of this proposal are unclear, and NATO's insistence on a military force with a substantial NATO component on the ground to police any settlement in Kosovo remains a point of contention.

Key Takeaways:

  • President Clinton has endorsed NATO's decision to update contingency plans for a ground invasion of Kosovo, but expressed caution regarding the Yugoslav offer to accept an international presence under U.N. oversight.
  • The Yugoslav government, led by President Slobodan Milosevic, has suggested deploying an exclusively civilian monitoring force in Kosovo under U.N. auspices, which falls short of NATO's requirements.
  • The NATO summit will not include a formal decision on a ground war against Milosevic, but it is likely to dominate back-room discussions, with leaders from 42 countries gathering to discuss the future strategic direction of the alliance.
  • The Russian government, led by President Boris Yeltsin, has sharply criticized the NATO decision to bomb Yugoslavia and has tried to broker a deal with Milosevic, with Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin expressing willingness to discuss the new offer personally with NATO leaders.
  • The composition of the international force could prove crucial, with Clinton emphasizing the need for a force that has the confidence of the people who live in Kosovo and operates in a way that protects all the people there, including the Serb minority.
  • British officials have expressed skepticism regarding the Yugoslav offer, with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook suggesting that NATO troops could enter Kosovo even without a formal agreement with Milosevic, although the U.S. maintains that any ground forces will require a non-hostile environment.

Statistics:

  • 42 countries are represented at the NATO summit, with leaders from 23 partner countries also in attendance.
  • 50 years have passed since NATO was formed to stand up against the now-defunct Soviet Union.
  • 19 NATO nations and 23 partner countries are participating in the summit.
  • The air campaign against Yugoslavia has been ongoing for a month.
  • The U.S. has maintained that no scenario being contemplated by NATO involves ground troops in a "non-permissive" environment.
  • Pentagon officials have acknowledged that NATO planners are seriously preparing for both "permissive" and "non-permissive" environments regarding the use of troops in Kosovo.

Sources:

  • Reuters news agency
  • Itar-Tass Russian news service
  • White House spokesman Joe Lockhart
  • Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon
  • French President Jacques Chirac
  • Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini
  • British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook
  • Toni Marshall and Andrew Cain (contributors to the report)

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