Ethnic Feud | Kosovo 1998 - 1999

Jos Jedna Pesma o Maloj Garavoj - Đorđe Balašević

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, after the death of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito, the autonomy previously granted to Kosovo was steadily eroded, especially under Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, who in 1989 revoked Kosovo’s autonomous status and placed it under direct Serbian control. This led to widespread discrimination against Albanians, who were purged from public institutions and denied basic rights. As a result a militant group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) emerged in the mid 1990s.

The KLA launched armed attacks against Serbian police and officials (and sometimes Serbian civillians), prompting brutal counter insurgency operations by Yugoslav and Serbian forces. These operations involved mass killings, forced displacement, and widespread human rights abuses against ethnic Albanian civilians. The violence escalated significantly in 1998, and international attempts to negotiate a settlement failed. The situation reached a tipping point with the Racak massacre in January 1999, which shocked global public opinion and led NATO to intervene militarily. On March 24, 1999, NATO launched an (questionable) bombing campaign against Yugoslavia without UN Security Council approval, citing humanitarian concerns and the need to halt ethnic cleansing (the bombing led to the deaths of 500 more civilians). The war ended in June 1999, with Serbian forces agreeing to withdraw from Kosovo, This led to the Serbian population of Kosovo fleeing, fearing revenge attacks by the returning Albanian refugees. Peacekeepers were sent to Kosovo both by the UN and NATO to "Stabilize" and "Prevent ethnic violence"



The title should be "Ethnic Feud | Kosovo and Yugoslavia 1998 - 1999" since there's also the NATO bombing on Yugoslavia but I figured it'll be long and kinda weird so I'll just put in Kosovo.