War in Kosovo: causes.

After the end of the Second World War, the territory of Kosovo was annexed to Yugoslavia. This served Cause of the Kosovo War between Serbs who profess Christianity and Muslim Albanians - long-standing irreconcilable enemies were forced to live not only in the neighborhood, but also in one state.

In 1974, Kosovo received the status of autonomy, but the Albanians considered this insufficient and after the death of Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, in 1980 demanded full independence. However, they achieved the exact opposite effect - Belgrade changed the country's Constitution, removing from it even Kosovo's right to autonomy.

Stages of the war in Kosovo.

The first stage of the conflict.

Starting point war in Kosovo 1998 was the year when the Kosovo Liberation Army declared war on February 28 to liberate its territory. Attacks on Yugoslav law enforcement officers followed, in response, the Yugoslav army attacked Kosovo settlements near Drenica. Among the victims were many women and children.

By the autumn of 1998, a mass migration of refugees from Kosovo began - the number of victims had already approached a thousand people. The reaction of the international community was not long in coming - NATO insisted on a ceasefire from Belgrade, in September the UN Security Council passed a corresponding resolution.

Since immediately after the official call for peace by the UN, the NATO countries began to plan an armed intervention, for some time the conflict was extinguished. On October 15, an official truce was concluded between Belgrade and the Kosovo militants, and on October 25, the fire ceased.

But despite official statements, the local population was still attacked. In 1999 war in Serbian Kosovo flared up with renewed vigor.

The second stage of the conflict.

In January 1999, the Belgrade army shot fifty residents of Racak - "for aiding the separatists." In February, another attempt was made in France by the international community to reconcile the parties.

The West insisted on reaffirming the autonomy of Kosovo, Russia adhered to the Yugoslav point of view - the country must be kept within the existing borders. Of course, Belgrade was not going to lose part of the territory and withdraw troops from the territory of Kosovo - therefore, the negotiations did not give a result.

In March, the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO troops began in order to suppress and intimidate. They ended only in June, when Belgrade finally agreed to withdraw troops from Kosovo.

The third stage of the conflict.

On June 11, 1999, after the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops, the armed forces of Russia and NATO entered the territory of Kosovo to force the Albanian militants to peace. Two years later, in November 2001, the people of Kosovo elected a president, I. Rugov, and declared their independence.

In 2003, the UN and the EU again tried to reconcile the parties, but the negotiations held in Vienna again failed. Five years later, the government of Kosovo declared the independence of the region from Serbia - this day, February 17, 2008, is considered to be the day the Kosovo conflict ended.

TEN DAY WAR

The bloody and protracted conflict in Yugoslavia began with a small war, the victims of which were no more than 100 people. After the Second World War, it was the premiere in the Balkan theater of operations.

Parties to the conflict: Slovenia, Yugoslavia
Conflict zone: Slovenia
Casus belli: secession of Slovenia from the SFRY
Losses: Slovenian self-defense forces - 19 people, Yugoslav army - 45 people, 12 civilians (mainly drivers of international road transport flights)

The Ten Day War in the Balkans led Slovenia to independence. Then the federal Yugoslavia will hold on to its regions more tightly and give them away with much more bloodshed. Photo: red-alliance.net

In December 1990, the most economically developed republic of Yugoslavia, Slovenia, held a referendum and announced its separation from the SFRY: 86% of the Slovenian population voted for this. On June 25, 1991, the Slovenian leadership announced that it had taken control of its borders and airspace. In response, the government of the Yugoslav federation ordered the Yugoslav People's Army to restore order. Fighting with armored personnel carrier tanks continued until July 4, when peace was concluded: the Yugoslav army pledged to stop hostilities on the territory of Slovenia, and Slovenia and Croatia promised to wait three months with declarations of independence.

BOSNNIAN WAR

Then came the turn of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was inhabited by 44% Muslim Bosnians, 31% by Orthodox Serbs, and 17% by Catholic Croats. Serbian leaders did not recognize the results of the independence referendum (February 29, 1992) and proclaimed their own republic.

Parties to the conflict: Bosnians, Serbs, Croats
Conflict zone: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Casus belli: interethnic conflict, struggle for territory
Losses: 100-110 thousand people (total), 2 million 200 thousand refugees

In this most bloody of all modern Balkan wars, the parties staged ethnic cleansing. Photo: ronhaviv.com

An acute ethnic conflict broke out: the Bosnian Serbs were supported by Serbia, led by Slobodan Milosevic, and the Yugoslav People's Army. The Bosnian War lasted from March 1, 1992 to December 14, 1995. In this acute conflict, newly formed formations acted against each other: the Army of the Republika Srpska, the People's Defense of Western Bosnia, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian Defense Council. The dispute was about territories. The shelling of cities and the ethnic cleansing of the flocks are signs of this war. The Serbs had weapons inherited from the Yugoslav People's Army. When the Croats and Bosnians united against the Republika Srpska, creating the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this advantage was lost. After the massacre in Srebrenica, NATO launched an operation against the Bosnian Serb formations and the war soon ended. The International Tribunal named 45 Serbs, 12 Croats and 5 Bosnians as war criminals. The victims of the Bosnian war - 100-110 thousand people; about 2 million 200 thousand became refugees. This war is considered the most destructive in Europe after World War II.

KOSOVO WAR

The Kosovo war in April 1996 was started by Albanian separatists who wanted the independence of Kosovo and Metohija. The Kosovo Liberation Army (there is evidence of KLA ties to al-Qaeda) declared an armed struggle.

Parties to the conflict: Kosovo Albanians (Kosovo Defense Army), Yugoslav Army, NATO
Conflict zone: Kosovo, cities of Serbia
Casus belli: desire for independence of Kosovo, non-compliance by the Yugoslav authorities with NATO conditions
Losses: 1,700 civilians, thousands left homeless

Kosovo war. Serbian unit in position. Photo: krautspacemagic.tumblr.com

The non-Albanian population - Serbs, Montenegrins and Gypsies - began to leave the region en masse. In response, the Yugoslav army attacked settlements in Kosovo. During this operation, about 80 civilians were killed, including women and children. NATO countries, unsuccessfully trying to force Belgrade to stop hostilities in Kosovo and Metahija, threatened a military operation in 1998. The NATO Council gave four days, after which air strikes were to be launched, and the Yugoslav authorities relented. The truce was short-lived, and violence against the Serb and Albanian populations resumed. In early 1999, the Yugoslav army and police again began to act against the Albanians who supported the secession of Kosovo. There was an episode when the Yugoslav units attacked the village of Racak, occupied by the KLA. According to the Albanians, who were supported by Western observers, the Yugoslavs staged the execution of 45 Albanians there. The Yugoslav authorities claimed that these people died in battle. It was this event that gave NATO reason to again threaten to bomb Yugoslavia if it did not negotiate with the Kosovo leaders. The meeting of the parties, held in Paris, with the participation of Russia and NATO, yielded nothing. Russia, which traditionally considered the Balkans its sphere of attention, was undergoing a period of impotence: the United States and Great Britain presented a draft settlement.

Albanian refugees in Kosovo fleeing a war zone. Photo: dw.de

Full autonomy of Kosovo was supposed, the withdrawal of the Yugoslav forces and instead of them - the introduction of the NATO contingent. As a result, Yugoslavia agreed with the political part, but categorically opposed the decision to occupy the region with the forces of the North Atlantic bloc. NATO immediately began military operations. The UN resolution condemning this was supported only by Russia, China and Namibia. Experts note the coincidence of NATO's actions against Yugoslavia with the sex scandal around Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky; Be that as it may, on March 24, 1999, Operation Allied Force began.

US and allied aircraft have been attacking Belgrade, Pristina and other cities; cruise missiles launched from a cruiser in the Adriatic Sea, aimed at military installations. The operation ended on June 10, 1999.

Belgrade is on fire after a NATO air raid. Photo: libcom.org

As a result of the bombing, not only military and infrastructure facilities were damaged, but also residential areas. According to the Yugoslav authorities, civilian casualties exceeded 1,700; Human Rights Watch reported that about 500 people died as a result of the bombings, and that "excess deaths due to deteriorating living conditions cannot be estimated." Thousands of people were left homeless. More than 800 people are missing, according to the UN. The Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. It is only partially recognized in the world.

WAR IN TRANSNISTRIUM

At the decline of the USSR in the Moldavian SSR, nationalist slogans sound louder and louder. In the spring of 1989, on behalf of the Writers' Union of Moldova, a bill on languages ​​was published. It is assumed that parents cannot choose the language in which their children will be taught; and besides this - administrative (and in some cases, criminal) liability for the use in official communication of any language other than Moldovan. A transition to Latin writing is also being prepared.

Parties to the conflict: Moldova, unrecognized republic of Transnistria
Conflict zone: the left bank of the Dniester bordering Ukraine on the territory of the Moldavian SSR
Casus belli: Declaration of independence of Transnistria, which Moldova considers its territory
Losses: 500 killed on each side. Experts say that in reality there were many more dead

Transnistria - the territory between the Dniester and the Ukrainian border

Immediately, a movement spontaneously arises for the introduction of state bilingualism: Moldovan and Russian. The Moldovan territories, stretching in a narrow strip from the left bank of the winding Dniester to the border with Ukraine, are mostly inhabited by ethnic Russians and Ukrainians. Here, in Pridnestrovie, in its main city, Tiraspol, the United Council of Labor Collectives is being organized. This OSTK, when the Moldavian language was recognized as the state language, organized a wave of strikes. Events developed: the Supreme Council of the MSSR decided that the republic itself was illegally created as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and the regions of Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia were the territories of Romania occupied by the USSR. The city council of Tiraspol responded by saying that if so, it means that the left bank of the Dniester is also illegally included in the Moldavian SSR, and that it does not consider itself bound by any obligations with the MSSR.

A referendum was held in Pridnestrovie, and on September 2, 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed as part of the USSR. But the leadership of the Union did not recognize the PMSSR, as well as Gagauzia, which also declared independence.

Hot spring on the banks of the Dniester. Photo: dniester.ru

On March 3, 1991, in Dubossary, unknown people shot down a car with Transnistrian police. Some accuse the Moldovan side of the provocation, others - the Pridnestrovian one. In response, Pridnestrovian guardsmen and Cossacks took Moldovan policemen hostage. On the same day, the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova attacked the regiment of the 14th Army and blocked the houses in which the families of its servicemen lived. Cossacks and Pridnestrovian guards arrived to help the regiment. And so the war began. Moldavian artillery shelled the left bank, Dubossary and Bender were subjected to shelling. The Moldavian army tried ten times to break through to Dubossary. Pridnestrovians defended themselves with the help of weapons received from the 14th army in every possible way. They even had several tanks. In this regard, Moldovan President Mircea Sneegur said that his country is at war with Russia.

The Moldavian army approached Bendery, battles began for the city, then - in the city itself. The Moldovans tried to storm the fortress, which housed the rocket brigade of the 14th army. Tanks of the 14th army came to the aid of the Transnistrians, and the attackers were forced out of the city. The Moldovan side used two MiG-29s: they tried to bomb the bridge, but one aircraft was shot down by the air defense of the 14th army.

The conflict was frozen with the introduction of Russian peacekeepers. Part of the left bank of the Dniester is controlled by Moldova, part - by the unrecognized republic of Transnistria.

WAR IN ABKHAZIA 1992-1993

Parties to the conflict: Georgia, Abkhazia
Conflict zone:territory of the Abkhaz ASSR
Casus belli:Declaration of independence by Abkhazia, protection by Georgia of the interests of its citizens living there, the desire to preserve territorial integrity
Losses:4 thousand Georgians and 4 thousand Abkhazians. 1000 Georgians are considered missing

In 1992, after the overthrow of the regime of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze returned to Georgia, heading the State Council, which controlled Georgian territory with the exception of Adzharia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Contradictions between the Georgian and Abkhaz representatives grew in the Supreme Council of the Abkhaz Autonomy. The Council of National Unity of Abkhazia appealed to the population to prevent the violation of the Constitution of autonomy, the usurpation of power and lawlessness. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Abkhazia returned to the Constitution of 1925, according to which Abkhazia is a sovereign state within the Georgian SSR. Tbilisi canceled this decision. On August 14, 1992, Georgia sent troops into Abkhazia, citing the need to counter separatism and protect the Georgians living there. Officially, the reason was the protection of the railway, along which goods were transported from Russia to Armenia, which was at war with Azerbaijan. The military men who entered Abkhazia had new equipment that Georgia inherited after the collapse of the USSR. The armament of the Abkhaz side consisted mainly of small arms. It was the height of the holiday season; the first clashes began, and the dead appeared on both sides.

Abkhazia. Battles near Gagra. Photo: topwar.ru

The Abkhazians received support in the North Caucasus: Adyghe and Chechen volunteers began to join their detachments; one of the Chechen units was commanded by Shamil Basayev. The Russian leadership did not interfere in the conflict - except that the Krasnodar Territory closed the border with Abkhazia in order to "stabilize the situation with refugees"; also organized the transfer of volunteers and Kuban Cossacks from Transnistria to Abkhazia. The Russian Committee for Emergency Situations by Sea evacuated 15,000 people from the conflict zone.

After Yeltsin assured Shevardnadze of his desire to resolve the conflict peacefully, the Georgian National Guard was ordered to halt the offensive. And in the fall of 1992, the Abkhazians launched a counteroffensive: they already had captured equipment; managed to recapture Gagra (earlier, the Georgian military commandant of this city promised, if the offensive was not stopped, to destroy all ethnic Abkhazians; when the city was taken, there were reports that Chechens and Abkhazians were playing the severed heads of Georgians in the stadium: later the international commission did not confirm this).

Burnt down as a result of the fighting in 1993, the House of the Government of Abkhazia. Photo: Wikipedia

In the autumn of 1993, Abkhazians storming Sukhumi shot down several Georgian planes landing in Sukhumi from portable anti-aircraft guns. It is believed that the artillery weapons received from Russia contributed to the capture of Sukhumi. In the captured city, 17 pro-Georgian ministers were executed.

The ceasefire agreement was concluded in the fall of 1994 with Russian mediation. There are sources reporting episodes of this war in which Russian troops acted against the Georgian side. CIS peacekeeping forces were brought into Abkhazia - in fact, these were units of the Russian Armed Forces stationed here earlier. Only the Kodori Gorge remained under Georgian control in Abkhazia. As a result of this war, 4 thousand Georgians were killed (another thousand were missing) and 4 thousand Abkhazians. About 250 thousand Georgians were forced to flee from the territory of Abkhazia.

Kosovo - under the jurisdiction of the authorities that actually control most of the region - the Republic of Kosovo, under the jurisdiction of Serbia - the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia.

Currently, the region is predominantly populated by Albanians (over 90%). Of the two million population of Kosovo, Serbs make up about 100 thousand (6%) with a national center in Kosovska Mitrovica.

In the medieval period, the core of the medieval Serbian state formed on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, and from the 14th century until 1767, the throne of the Serbian patriarch was located here (near the city of Pec). Therefore, the claims of the Serbs to the province of Kosovo and Metohija are based on the principles of historical law. Albanians, in turn, insist on the predominance of ethnic law.

Historically, Albanians have long lived in Kosovo, but did not constitute a significant part of the population until the beginning of the 20th century. To a large extent, the ethnic composition of the region began to change after the Second World War, when Josip Broz Tito allowed the Albanians who ended up on the territory of Yugoslavia during the war to remain in Kosovo. For the first time, the territory of Kosovo was separated into an autonomous region within Serbia within the framework of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945. The Yugoslav Constitution of 1974 granted the territories that were part of Serbia the de facto status of republics, with the exception of the right to secede. Kosovo, as an autonomous socialist region, received its own constitution, legislation, supreme authorities, as well as its own representatives in all major union bodies.

However, in the late 1980s, the result of the internal political crisis, which led to a surge of violence and major economic difficulties, was the abolition of the autonomous status of Kosovo. A new basic law of Serbia was adopted, which entered into force on September 28, 1990 and restored the supremacy of republican laws over regional laws throughout the republic. Kosovo was left with only territorial and cultural autonomy.

Kosovo Albanians did not recognize the new constitution; Parallel Albanian power structures began to be created. In 1991, an illegal referendum was held in Kosovo, which approved the independence of Kosovo. Kosovo nationalists proclaimed the unrecognized "Republic of Kosovo" and elected Ibrahim Rugova as president. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was created in 1996 to fight for independence.

In 1998, the inter-ethnic conflict escalated into bloody armed clashes. On September 9, 1998, the NATO Council approved a plan for military intervention in the Kosovo conflict. On March 24, 1999, a NATO military operation called "Allied Force" began without UN sanction. Yugoslav cities and military installations were subjected to massive bombardments.

Since 1999, more than 200,000 ethnic Serbs have left the region due to ethnic conflicts between Serbs and Albanian separatists.

As a result, the Serbian government was forced to agree to the deployment of the NATO KFOR military contingent to Kosovo and the transition of the region to UN control. In accordance with UN Security Council Resolution No. 1244 of June 10, 1999, the central role in the peace process was assigned to the UN and its Security Council, and the civilian UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Kosovo Force (KFOR) were deployed in the province numbering 16.5 thousand military personnel.

On October 24, 2005, the UN Security Council, in the form of a presidential statement, gave the green light to the process of determining the future status of Kosovo. Martti Ahtisaari (Finland) has become the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the status process. The meeting of the Contact Group (CG) at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers, held in Washington on November 2, 2005, approved the "Guidelines" for the development of the future status of Kosovo. The document fixes the priority of the negotiated solution, the leading role of the UN Security Council at all stages of the status process, the consideration of all status options with the exception of the division of Kosovo, as well as the return of the situation in the province to the period before 1999 and unification with other territories.

One of the factors that influenced the development of a decision on the status of the province was the constitution of Serbia, adopted as a result of a nationwide referendum on October 28-29, 2006. Its preamble contains the provision that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia.

Russia supported international efforts aimed at building a democratic multi-ethnic society in Kosovo on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Russia actively participated in the resolution of the Kosovo problem within the framework of the UN Security Council and the Contact Group (Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, USA, France). At the same time, the Russian side defended the priority of a negotiated settlement, the principles of universality and multiple options for resolving the issue of Kosovo's status, rejecting the thesis that there is no alternative to the independence of the region. Russia proposed to develop a "road map", which could take into account the legitimate interests of the parties and the priorities of the leading international factors of the Kosovo settlement, marked the milestones of the parties' movement towards agreement, including on the paths of their European integration prospects. The United States believed that the only way out of the impasse was the "Ahtisaari plan", which assumed the independent status of the province under international control. Representatives of the US and the European Union stated that the negotiations had exhausted themselves, and the status of the region would be determined within the framework of the EU and NATO.

On February 17, 2008, the Kosovo parliament voted to adopt a declaration of independence for the province.

The International Court of Justice has set 17 April 2009 as the deadline for the submission by any interested states of written statements containing information relevant to Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.

Written statements on this issue were submitted to the International Court of Justice by thirty-five states: Czech Republic, France, Cyprus, China, Switzerland, Romania, Albania, Austria, Egypt, Germany, Slovakia, Russia, Finland, Poland, Luxembourg, Libya, Great Britain, USA, Serbia , Spain, Iran, Estonia, Norway, Netherlands, Slovenia, Latvia, Japan, Brazil, Ireland, Denmark, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Maldives, Sierra Leone and Bolivia.

Russia presented to the court its opinion that the unilateral step of the Kosovo Albanians is illegitimate and flagrantly violates the norms of international law.

The decision of the International Court of Justice will not be binding, but Belgrade believes that a possible negative opinion will help sanction new negotiations over the status of Kosovo's autonomy.

Currently, the situation in the province is formally controlled by two international bodies: the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the European Union Mission. The first transferred part of its functions to the second, which was agreed by the Serbian authorities and the corresponding sanction of the UN Security Council of November 27, 2008. After that, representatives of the European Union began to work in the Albanian regions of Kosovo, exercising control there in the field of law, order and respect for human rights. At the same time, in the Serbian enclaves, the leadership will remain with UNMIK.

Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Iran do not intend to recognize Kosovo. The Vatican, Libya, Argentina, Israel, Egypt, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, South Africa do not recognize Kosovo. In total - 44 states are firmly "against" Kosovo.

The origins of the Kosovo problem go back several centuries into the history of the Balkans. And with each turn of the wheel of history, the Kosovo question received new content.

The final ethnic balance in Kosovo and Metohija was broken in the period from 1878 to 1912, when about half a million Serbs left the region. It is interesting that at that time Albania as a state did not exist. It was formed on the basis of the decision of the London Conference on November 28, 1912, and in 1913 officially gained independence. Already at that time, Albania was making claims to Serbia for part of the territories predominantly inhabited by Albanians.

After the end of the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. Kosovo remained part of Serbia, and after the First World War - part of Yugoslavia. At the same time, an illegal irredentist “Kosovo Committee” appeared, later the “Revolutionary Movement for the Unification of Albanians” and other Albanian organizations that were not only in Kosovo, but throughout the world: (“Union of Kosovars” (Rome, later - Turkey), League of Prizren (New York, branches in Turkey, Australia, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany) These organizations set themselves the task of preparing the conditions for reunification with Albania.

During the Second World War, almost the entire territory of Kosovo entered the occupation zone of Italy, later Germany announced the creation of a "Great Albania". This led to the fact that the anti-fascist movement was weaker on the territory of the region than in other regions of Yugoslavia. On the other hand, the created Albanian military formations (Kosovo regiment, SS division "Skander Bey") actively terrorized the non-Albanian population. And if almost the entire territory of Yugoslavia was liberated by partisan detachments and its own armed forces, then in Kosovo the Albanian formations resisted, fighting on the side of Nazi Germany.

After the Second World War, Kosovo received the status of a national region within Serbia, but already in 1963 it became an autonomous province. The 1974 constitution endowed the region with such broad powers that it actually became an independent subject of the federation (constitutional changes meant bureaucratic decentralization carried out in favor of new loyal political leaderships, with the restoration of a one-party system at the level of republics and territories and the deprivation of federal authorities of power, Yugoslavia turned into a kind of confederation of eight states). Representatives of Kosovo were members of the Presidium of the SFRY, which included representatives of all republics. Among the rights and obligations of this state formation were those that made it possible to block the decisions of the authorities of the republican level. The leadership of Kosovo, for its part, could not take into account the opinion of Serbia, submitting to the republican bodies only when it considered it beneficial for itself. The autonomous region had equal rights with the republics, except for one, the most important, - the impossibility of separation from Serbia.

According to the Constitution of socialist Yugoslavia in 1974, Kosovo, formally remaining an autonomy within Serbia, actually received the status of a federal unit and unlimited independence in internal affairs. A program for the accelerated socio-economic development of the region was adopted and a federal fund was created to finance it, the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts, and a university in Pristina were opened. In terms of the proportion of students to the total population, Kosovo surpassed the rest of the country, the Albanian language was equalized with the languages ​​of other Yugoslav peoples. This was facilitated by the close connection with the Albanian school system, between the region and Albania there was an intensive exchange of teachers and professors. In terms of income and GDP per capita, Kosovo, far behind the average Yugoslav indicators, significantly surpassed Albania. However, a large population growth (the first place in Yugoslavia) "ate" all the capital investments of Serbia, therefore, in terms of economic development in the country, the region ranked last. Occupying a small area, Kosovo has solid reserves of minerals, the most valuable of which are bismuth, lead-zinc ores and coal.

It is still difficult to establish the number of Albanians in the region, since they refuse to take a population census, but in any case, the majority of the population are Albanians (according to the latest data, about 917 thousand (66%)), Serbs and Montenegrins are less than 250 thousand, about 100 thousand gypsies, the rest are Turks and Romanians.

In the SFRY, nationalist activity in Kosovo began immediately after the war and did not stop for a day. In 1956, the Security Service uncovered several sabotage groups abandoned from Albania to create illegal nationalist organizations. The ultimate goal was to prepare an uprising, secession from Serbia and annexation to Albania.

The tasks set were carried out by the separatists in stages throughout the 60s and 70s, all performances were carefully planned and no less carefully prepared. And in 1981, an uprising broke out in Kosovo, determining the development of the situation in the region for a whole decade. The rebels had one demand - to grant Kosovo the status of a union republic. Everything that such a status meant, the region actually already had, so the real goal of the action is another step towards complete independence. The "street" struggle was accompanied by sabotage at enterprises, the distribution of leaflets, and the intensification of activities to turn Kosovo into an "ethnically pure" region. Nationalists used any methods, up to threats of physical extermination against Serbs, Montenegrins and peace-loving Albanians, desecrated Orthodox cemeteries, churches, raped and killed children, set fire to houses, destroyed livestock, occupied foreign land, and restricted freedom of movement. For 10 years, Albanian terror reigned here. Albanian nationalism almost unlimitedly used all the regional power structures - the police, the courts, the system of school and university education, the Academy of Sciences, the writers' organization. The Union of Writers of Kosovo, headed since 1988 by I. Rugova, became the mouthpiece of the idea of ​​national isolation of the region. The ongoing process of eviction from the region of residents of Serbian and Montenegrin nationalities has become the most important indicator of the crisis.

Serbian leadership in the 80s. used different methods to resolve the situation. The introduction of martial law and curfews were replaced by periods of developing new programs for solving the "problems of Kosovo", which included economic (overcoming the isolation of the region, changing the economic structure, strengthening the material basis of self-government) and political (attempts to form unity on class, not national basis) measures . However, it was not possible to achieve at least some results.

The unsuccessful search for a way out of the crisis led the leadership of Serbia to the conviction that only the centralization of power and the abolition of a number of powers of the regional authorities could normalize the situation. Therefore, a campaign was launched in Serbia for the legal territorial and administrative unity of the republic, for the reduction of the rights of autonomous regions.

The threat to say goodbye to dreams of a republic brought 40,000 Albanians to the streets of Pristina in January 1990. They posed a real threat to the stability of Serbia and the SFRY just at a time when inconclusive disputes over the future of the federation allowed Slovenia and Croatia, and then Bosnia and Herzegovina, to speak openly about independence. Introduced into the military units and the police by force tried to maintain order in the cities of Kosovo. This resulted in clashes and casualties. Albanian delegates to the Assembly proclaimed Kosovo a republic. In response, the Assembly of Serbia dissolved the Assembly of Kosovo, justifying this decision by the lawlessness and violation of order prevailing in the province, but subsequent events showed that these measures only aggravated the situation.

In the context of growing nationalism and the desire for secession in all republics, Serbia was afraid of losing Kosovo as well, so it decided to limit (but not eliminate) the autonomy of the region. The Constitution adopted in Serbia in October 1990 reduced the legal status of the region to territorial and cultural autonomy, depriving it of all elements of statehood. In protest, the Albanians launched a campaign of civil disobedience. The dissolved parliament at a secret meeting decided to create "parallel structures of power" - an underground parliament and government. Albanian teachers refused to follow the new school curriculum and started teaching children according to Albanian curricula. As a result, the region was divided into two parallel societies - Albanian and Serbian. Each had its own power, its own economy, its own enlightenment and culture. The official economy was dominated by the Albanians, using private firms and private capital. Serbs were exclusively represented in the political structure, as the Albanians boycotted the elections.

In 1989, the powers of a federal unit were taken away from Kosovo, and in 1990 the authorities of the autonomy were dissolved. The Albanian population constantly refused to participate in republican elections, but took part in illegal referendums, which invariably ended with the approval of the independence of the region or established local power structures, and on May 24, 1992, presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo, which were won by I. Rugova and his party - Democratic League of Kosovo. The Serbian leadership declared them illegal.

During the years of resistance, the Albanian separatists managed to build an entire organizational system, consisting of a military and political leadership; special mobile terrorist units; reservists who are planned to be activated in the event of an armed uprising; intelligence services; propaganda apparatus; medical services; banking systems; warehouses with ammunition and ammunition. The financing of the separatist movement has two sources: a monthly 3% contribution to a special fund for all working ethnic Albanians and income from the Albanian diaspora abroad, numbering more than 400,000 people. An additional source of funding for the separatists was, oddly enough, the help of other states. The Albanians ordered "dual" items (tents, food, medicines, etc.): on the one hand, they were intended for the refugees of the region, but more often they ended up in separatist camps. There is evidence that the special services of the US and Germany had a hand in the creation of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army.

UAC was extremely active in using the possibilities of the global computer network to solve its problems. Numerous, well-coordinated and organized protests carried out by the Albanian diaspora in many countries of the world (especially in Western Europe) were coordinated via the Web. It was a source of directives, appeals, specific slogans and tactics of action, which, depending on the situation, changed in a matter of hours. This played an important role in shaping the attitude of the world community towards the Albanians of Kosovo.

The situation in the province escalated sharply in the spring of 1996, when Albanian militants began attacking police officers, and the authorities responded with mass arrests. The West declared the Serbian authorities in violation of human rights, violence and even torture of those arrested. However, the UN commission, which visited Kosovo in November 1996, could not confirm this information.

In the separatist movement in Kosovo, whose radicalization began in 1998, three currents can be noted.

The first is political, acting through the Democratic League of Kosovo, headed by Ibrahim Rugova (he advocates for Kosovo's independence through political means).

The second is connected with the activities of the "government in the underground" and the name of Buyar Bukoshi. Government headquarters - Ulm (Germany). Bukoshi has a great influence on Albanians who are working or in exile outside of Kosovo. Through his hands pass the money that enters Kosovo from abroad. It is known that Albanians occupy huge sectors in the service sector in many European countries, doing seemingly inconspicuous, but great work, and earning a lot of money from it.

The third is extremist, acting by terrorist methods within the framework of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The goals of the extremist wing of the separatists were: to cause a war in the region through terrorist acts and provocations, to expand the “free territory” where the KLA operates, to achieve recognition of their struggle as a national liberation struggle, and, finally, having separated from Yugoslavia, to unite the territories of Kosovo , Montenegro, Macedonia, Sandjak and other lands inhabited by Albanians. The political wing of the KLA is represented by the former chairman of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Kosovo Albanians, A. Demachi.

In the autumn of 1998, a split became noticeable among the Kosovo leadership, which indicated a trend towards the strengthening of radicals ready for military action. Gradually, the prime minister of the unrecognized republic, Bukoshi, began to play an increasingly prominent role, having influence on the broad masses of Kosovars. He frankly stated that he was in favor of "war, and not for negotiations, which mean capitulation."

The KLA, trained in Albanian camps, provoked the beginning of a new phase of the conflict in early 1998 - armed clashes with the Serbian police, explosions in the Macedonian cities of Gostivar, Kumanovo and Prilep, and killings of civilians. Among the methods used by the terrorists are the killing and expulsion of Serbs; killings and threats against loyal Albanians who do not want to fight; blockade of Serbian villages; taking civilians hostage; attacks on police posts and army patrols. Most of the roads in the province were controlled by Albanian paramilitary patrols. The population of the region, which did not support the extremists, was intimidated and subjected to violence. Albanian Catholics left their homes to avoid forcible inclusion in terrorist groups.

The response of the police and the army was harsh and caused a new wave of resistance. The clashes between the armed Albanians and the police in the spring of 1998 resembled military operations. The KLA tried to expand its zone of influence, and the government army divisions and the police not only tried to prevent them from doing this, but also actively destroyed strongholds, weapons depots, moving towards the border with Albania. By October 1998, Kosovo was practically free from the KLA formations pushed back to the Albanian border, but here the West intervened.

In September 1998, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution obliging the Serbs to cease fire and start negotiations with the Albanian side. The resolution also mentioned the need to take all measures to end the conflict, but Russia's tough stance at the time held back NATO. In response, the government and the Assembly of Serbia declared their readiness to cooperate with international organizations and with the Albanians, and put forward a number of initiatives for a political settlement. The Albanians did not go to the negotiations, putting forward new conditions.

The problem of human rights has always attracted increased attention of the public, and their violation was a pretext for "democratic edification" and even external interference. However, no one in the West noticed that the violation of the rights of the Albanians began only after their unconstitutional actions and provocations.

Stubbornly ignoring the problem of Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, international organizations (UN, OSCE, Contact Group) showed interest in the problem of human rights in Kosovo. NATO took the most active position. Having received carte blanche for independent activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina in previous years, having secured a foothold in the Balkans as a military foothold, NATO sought in Kosovo to demonstrate its determination in the new role of a peacekeeper. NATO's participation in the settlement of the conflict in the Balkans was associated with the need to adapt the alliance to the new world order.

The activation of NATO in Europe was connected with another moment. Washington proved to its European partners that they would not be able to resolve complex international issues without the United States. After the disappearance of the bipolar world, the United States simply needs to prove to everyone that it will not give up the role of world gendarme and defender to anyone. Moreover, it does not matter whose rights the US protects, its own or, again, its own, because in the world there is not and cannot be, in their opinion, areas where there would be no US interests. The same goal was pursued by America when creating the Contact Group, which was not sanctioned by any international organization. Initially conceived as a working body for the preparation of documents for foreign ministers, it became the governing body for the settlement of the crisis in the Balkans, began to make binding decisions, dictate conditions and issue ultimatums. But the main thing - and this should not be forgotten - the United States needed to consolidate its presence, including military presence, on the European continent, which, after the collapse of the USSR, could no longer be justified by the usual logic of armed confrontation with the "evil empire". Thus, the need arose to find a new, if not so dangerous, but no less predatory and bloodthirsty enemy, which Milosevic became.

The situation was aggravated by the media, which in every possible way belittled the role of Serbia as a sovereign state and showed only the plight of the Albanians, but not the marginal minority - the Serbs.

International organizations were not embarrassed by the fact that it was a sovereign state - Yugoslavia - which opposes external interference in internal affairs. The arsenal of means at their disposal was tested in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The thesis that only Belgrade was to blame for the situation that had arisen, and the conviction that only military force could force the Serbian leadership to make concessions remained unchanged.

The Contact Group began to threaten Yugoslavia with bombing if it did not stop hostilities. Threats of air strikes against Serbia fulfilled the role of the "Sword of Damocles", escaping from which Milosevic signed a document providing for the withdrawal of Serbian forces from the province, the deployment of OSCE observers in the province, the establishment of a regime of air control of NATO aircraft over the territory of Kosovo, the deployment of "alliance forces in neighboring countries in case of problems.” It is noteworthy that the discussion of the Kosovo problem in the OSCE took place without representatives of Yugoslavia, which was temporarily excluded from this organization during the Bosnian war.

Russia strongly opposed NATO's plans, saying that the use of force requires a decision by the UN Security Council. As is well known, the use of armed force is lawful only in two cases: in the exercise of the right to self-defense and by decision of the UN Security Council against a violator of the peace and an aggressor.

It is not difficult to understand the true goals of the West, skillfully disguised as peaceful initiatives. Not a single international organization paid attention to the fact that the Albanians refused more than twenty times to sit down at the negotiating table. In the Western media, no distinction was made between separatist Albanians and loyal citizens. The West threatened to punish only one side - Belgrade. The NATO contingent stationed on the border with Kosovo in January 1999 was significantly increased. To this it should be added that the Serbian military was withdrawn from the territory of the region, and the West did not prevent the KLA from re-occupying most of the territory. The militants continued to receive weapons and ammunition from Albania, considering the Americans and NATO, if not obvious, then at least secret allies. Attacks on Serbian policemen, killings of civilians, hostage-taking, and open provocations have become more frequent.

While preparing the peace conference in Rambouillet, the Contact Group used the Dayton scenario: isolation of the delegation, harsh ultimatums, threats to Belgrade in case of refusal to sign the prepared draft, but something did not work out in a well-thought-out plan. Maybe it was the fact that the unity in the Contact Group was first broken when Russia did not support the idea of ​​sending a "NATO mission" to Kosovo. Despite the fact that the United States patronized the Albanian delegation, it did not make any concessions, demanding the entry of NATO troops and guarantees of independence at the end of the three-year period. The Yugoslav delegation announced its readiness to sign a political treaty, but was categorically against the entry of NATO troops into the territory of the region, referring to its rights as a sovereign state.

There was no way for NATIO to legitimize the "armed operation". The "military annex" to the treaty was classified and appeared unexpectedly already in Rambouillet. In particular, in this annex, under paragraphs 2 and 7, it was said that NATO troops would enter the territory of Kosovo after the signing of the treaty. And Serbian diplomacy skillfully used this fact, refusing to consider a document that was not discussed by the Contact Group. The letter of the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry at these negotiations emphasized that "Russia does not join Annexes 2 and 7." Later, Russia confirmed its position by refusing to certify with its signature the document on the nature of the international presence in Kosovo, since military-police annexes were not discussed in the Contact Group.

Events in Kosovo took an unexpected turn when, on January 15, 1999, 40 corpses of ""peaceful Albanians"" were found in the village of Racak in southern Kosovo, which became a formal reason for NATO aggression, because. gave reason to say that "the political dialogue in Kosovo has reached a dead point." Serbian policemen were guilty. Although the experts from Belarus and Finland, who examined the dead, stated that the bodies were brought from other places, and the presence of gunpowder on their fingers indicated that they most likely held weapons in their hands. This was only proven on March 24, 2000 in Berlin. But NATO was just waiting for such a moment and announced the start of the bombing. The absence of a tough position of Russian diplomacy did not prevent their beginning. Nevertheless, the West was shocked by the famous turn of the aircraft of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, E. M. Primakov, over the Atlantic on March 24, 1999, in response to the NATO bombing that had begun. The bombings caused mass protests in Russia by the population of the country. The condemnation of NATO actions by the Russian side was unexpected for the Alliance, and this prevented the development of events around Yugoslavia according to a tougher scenario.

At the meeting of the UN Security Council, Russia, China and Namibia condemned the NATO bombings, they were supported by Belarus and India (not members of the Security Council).

Neighboring countries with Yugoslavia agreed to use their airspace and runways. In addition, the blockade of Yugoslavia was organized not only from land and air, but also from the sea. Naval ships of various countries constantly cruised along the coastline of the SFRY. At first, Russia wanted to send a group of ships of the Black Sea Fleet to the Mediterranean Sea, which would be of great political and practical importance, but in the end it was limited to sending the reconnaissance ship Liman. Since May 1, 1999 A trade embargo was introduced against the FRY in order to stop the supply of oil to the republic from neighboring countries.

On May 9, the Yugoslav leadership decided to begin the withdrawal from Kosovo of units and subunits of the armed forces and police of the FRY. Despite this, NATO continued bombing. This led to the fact that hundreds of thousands of Serbs left Kosovo. And this humanitarian catastrophe was more serious than in Croatia.

NATO aviation has not been able to achieve its objectives. In Kosovo, American pilots faced an elusive enemy. The Serbs learned how to cover their weapons well, and NATO bombers hit those objects that were available to them, and not those that needed to be destroyed. According to independent American experts, despite five weeks of bombing, Belgrade managed to save 80-90% of tanks, 75% of the most advanced anti-aircraft missiles and 60% of MiG fighters, and the number of Serbian ground forces, which amounted to 40 thousand people in Kosovo at the beginning of the NATO operation , not only did not decrease, but, possibly, increased. NATO aircraft equipped with WTO failed to destroy 80% of ammunition depots and army barracks in Yugoslavia.

Only on June 10, 1999, the NATO leadership decided to stop air operations against the FRY. The UN Security Council decided to deploy a peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo in order to resolve the conflict peacefully. During the 78-day aggression against Yugoslavia, NATO lost 61 aircraft, 7 helicopters, 30 UAVs and 238 missiles.

The solution of the problems of Kosovo and Metohija was entrusted to the UN. In accordance with the UN Security Council resolution, an international security contingent, including representatives of Russia and neutral states, has been deployed in the region.

The NATO air operation, which lasted 78 days, was an inherently unprecedented aggression by a group of countries against a sovereign state. Since the end of the Second World War, Europe has not known such a long and intense hostilities on the continent.

Since the deployment of the international security forces (KFOR) and the UN mission, the number of terrorist acts in Kosovo has not decreased, but rather increased. And basically they were directed primarily against the Serbs. Thousands of houses, churches and monasteries, a large number of historical monuments of Serbian culture and history were destroyed or burned.

Many areas have been and are still being subjected to "ethnic cleansing". The cities of Pec, Prizren, Pristina and Djakovica have turned from multinational to mononational, in Kosovska Mitrovica the ratio of the Albanian and Serb population is currently 100/1. Now the peacekeepers have to protect not the Albanians, but the Serb minority, which is constantly being persecuted by the Albanian side.

By the way, the Kosovo Liberation Army has not ceased to exist. Although it was officially disbanded, but the created "Kosovo Guard Corps" - the local police were mostly KLA fighters. And it is clear that they could not, and did not want to prevent terrorist acts against the Serbs. The KLA militants are no longer rampant, as immediately after the "liberation" of the region, according to the UN, then they killed 30-40 Serbs a week. Nevertheless, the Albanian press is still calling for the axe.

The goals of the various parties involved in the conflict were different, but have they been achieved? Let's start with Serbia. The country's economy is destroyed, it is necessary to restore the economy. However, instead of compensating for the destruction, Western countries are trying to use the country's economic recovery as a political tool. The allocation of funds for restoration work was associated with the departure of S. Milosevic from the presidency. When Milosevic resigned, Kostunica took over, but even that did not help Serbia. For 120 million dollars, the Serbs handed over Milosevic to the Americans, but they never saw this money either. And yet the country's economy is developing, though not quickly, but surely. The damage caused by the bombing of military facilities is negligible, so the country practically does not need to spend money on restoring the army. Funds were found for very profitable, from a propaganda point of view, work to restore the national economy: the authorities introduced special taxes, and were also able to force a number of companies to operate at preferential rates, or even provide labor for free. This, of course, is not about the fact that Serbia is flourishing, everything is bad there, but not as expected. Yugoslavia as a country ceased to exist - Montenegro announced its withdrawal from its composition. So now the political map of Southern Europe has changed completely.

The United States practically did not get what they wanted: Milosevic remained the head of Serbia until recently, Kosovo never received the status of a republic, and the peacekeeping forces brought into its territory are struggling to cope with their duties. The only one the US has defeated is Western Europe. By dragging NATO into the conflict in the Balkans, the United States thereby dragged all the countries that are part of it. Many of these countries would probably never do such a thing. The Europeans were very successful in helping the US once again enslave itself. But Americans would not be Americans. If they could not extract economic benefits from the crisis. During the war, the rate of American companies rose, and the dollar outperformed the euro. The war in Yugoslavia is an advertisement for American weapons. And the country's military factories are already receiving billions in orders, which again leads to huge profits. However, the United States was unable to win over the whole world to its side, many states, from the smallest to the largest, condemned the aggression.

Russia is in an interesting position. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the collapse of the entire socialist system. And he forced me to look for a new position in the political world, and this is very difficult to do. Many countries simply ignored Russia when solving any world issues. The authority of the country began to rise when Russia was almost the only one who opposed the bombing of first Iraq, and then Yugoslavia. And with her activity, she almost always put the parties at the negotiating table. But much more often, Russia had to support Western countries in defiance of its international interests.

The entry into the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs I. Ivanov coincided with the aggravation of the situation in the region. Continuing the course of defending the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia, he was categorically against the use of force in resolving the problem of the region. The resolute position taken by Russia on the Kosovo issue was able to prevent NATO's military intervention in October 1998 and the implementation of the "Bosnian option" for the Kosovo autonomy. Having prevented air strikes, Russia, unexpectedly for the West, in the conditions of a severe economic crisis, disrupted the natural rhythm of NATO's systematic and unhindered offensive into the Balkans and further to the east. However, the weakness and political instability of Russia is a threat to security and stability in Europe.

It is difficult to assess unequivocally Russia's position in the negotiation process on the problems of Kosovo. She was rather contradictory and inconsistent. Russia has long supported the use of "measures of influence" on Yugoslavia, believing that Belgrade "cannot resist international standards", rejected Yugoslavia's request to consider NATO threats to launch air strikes in the Security Council, for a long time did not raise the issue of disarming the KLA, did not object to the widest possible status autonomy within Yugoslavia, not Serbia, which brought Kosovo closer to the creation of a republic, but this ended when the threat of bombing Yugoslavia became a reality. Russia condemned the decision to bombard Serbia, and this issue was repeatedly raised in the Security Council by Russian representatives.

The Balkan war not only revealed all the symptoms and manifestations of a serious crisis in relations between the West and Russia, but in its entirety showed the complex of growing threats to it in the political, military, economic and social spheres. The events in Yugoslavia, on the contrary, drew even more attention to Russia, which had its own point of view throughout the entire conflict. She sometimes, in spite of everyone, took the opposite side and won considerable authority on this. Therefore, the settlement of the conflict without Russia is simply impossible. It simply must be reckoned with, even if other powers do not like it. Therefore, Yugoslavia wanted to see Russian soldiers among the 30 thousandth contingent of peacekeepers, and the throw of Russian paratroopers at the Slatina airport will forever go down in world history as an example of readiness to defend their international interests in any way. It was the military who supported and even raised the authority of Russia, doing what politicians could not do. The Serbs understand that the position of Russia has constantly held back the onslaught of NATO forces and has not allowed simply destroying this state. Yugoslavia understood what she was doing when she called on Russia to accept her into the union of Russia and Belarus. Of course, this could not happen, but this statement alone was worth a lot, forcing the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance to reconsider many questions regarding Russia's position in resolving numerous world conflicts. After all, be that as it may, the Serbs would be more willing to see Russians at home than NATO soldiers. The attitude towards our peacekeepers is much more benevolent than towards the Americans, the British, the Germans, etc. How can this be if this country is not respected. Probably not, which means that Russia has not lost its strength. The world community (read - the organizers of the intervention) more and more wanted a trial of the leadership of Yugoslavia.

In January 2002, the International Tribunal for Yugoslavia began its work, the accused is S. Milosevic. Many crimes are imputed to him, and various charges are brought up to crimes against humanity. But unexpectedly, Milosevic (a lawyer by training) refused lawyers and took the defense into his own hands. The facts he cited in his speech made many take a different look at the Balkan crisis. Many countries were against Milosevic's protective word, and they had something to fear. The examples cited by the ex-president clearly testify to all the misfortunes that have befallen his state. Documents show that the use of force in the Balkans could have been avoided, but the West did not want to do this, and the use of various prohibited types of weapons and ammunition in the territory of the former Yugoslavia runs counter to all known world conventions. Undoubtedly, Milosevic's policy was also the reason for the collapse of Yugoslavia and the dramatic events that took place there during the nineties, but no less blame lies with all the participants in this huge conflict.