{
  "id": "RL30127",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30127",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101826,
      "date": "1999-04-06",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:45:47.518941",
      "title": "Kosovo Conflict Chronology: September 1998 - March 1999",
      "summary": "Kosovo is a province in southern Serbia with a majority Albanian population that seeks\nindependence. Long-simmering tensions between the Serbian government authorities and the ethnic\nAlbanian majority in Kosovo erupted into large-scale violence beginning in February 1998. An\nOctober 1998 agreement brokered by U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke with Yugoslav President\nSlobodan Milosevic, and backed by the threat of NATO air strikes, achieved a brief pause in the\nfighting. A January 1999 massacre of ethnic Albanian civilians in Racak prompted renewed\ninternational focus on the situation in Kosovo and on negotiations to resolve the conflict. By this\ntime, an estimated 2,000 persons, mainly ethnic Albanians, had been killed and over 350,000 had\nbeen made refugees. \n  Negotiations opened in Rambouillet, France, in early February 1999. The Rambouillet accords\nwould provide for a three-year interim agreement on democratic self-government for the people of\nKosovo. The accords would establish political institutions and offices in Kosovo, free elections, and\nhuman rights provisions. A NATO military force would ensure compliance with the accords and\nprovide a secure environment. The United States pledged to contribute up to 4,000 troops to a\nNATO-led peacekeeping force, a smaller share than in the NATO force in Bosnia. Kosovo would\nnot achieve independence from Serbia under the accords; however, at the end of the three year\nperiod, an international conference would determine a mechanism for a final settlement for Kosovo. \n  In contrast to earlier expectations, the Kosovar Albanian delegation retained objections to\naspects of the accords and refused to sign the agreement during the Rambouillet conference. It\nfinally signed the agreement on March 18, after the conference briefly reconvened in Paris. In spite\nof numerous international missions to Belgrade by western officials, including U.S. envoy\nHolbrooke, President Milosevic continued to refuse to consider the deployment of NATO troops on\nSerbian territory and instead mobilized greater numbers of troops in Kosovo.\n  On March 24, NATO launched Operation \"Allied Force,\" an extensive air strike campaign\nagainst Yugoslav military targets. The air operation aimed to deter Serbian attacks on Kosovo and\nto reduce Belgrade's military capabilities. In a national address, President Clinton stated that ending\nthe Kosovo tragedy was both a \"moral imperative\" and important to U.S. national interests. \nHowever, Yugoslav and Serb forces stepped up their ethnic cleansing campaigns to drive out ethnic\nAlbanians, creating a refugee and humanitarian crisis affecting neighboring states. By the end of the\nmonth, some observers questioned whether additional measures, such as the introduction of ground\ntroops, should be considered.\n  This report provides a chronology of major events related to the conflict in Kosovo from\nSeptember 1998 through March 1999. It continues from an earlier CRS Report, Kosovo Conflict\nChronology: January - August 1998. A map is included.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30127",
          "sha1": "67cc8fe2fbdd859ccdac43bb74e91c8e6d1ced66",
          "filename": "files/19990406_RL30127_67cc8fe2fbdd859ccdac43bb74e91c8e6d1ced66.pdf",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/19990406_RL30127_67cc8fe2fbdd859ccdac43bb74e91c8e6d1ced66.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}