Kosovo marks the 25th anniversary of Liberation

2024-06-12 10:59:12, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kosovo marks the 25th anniversary of Liberation

A British soldier holding Kosovar children in Pristina on June 13, 1999, a day after the first troops entered Kosovo. Photo, AP

Kosovo today marks the 25th anniversary of the Day of Freedom or Liberation of Kosovo, when NATO peacekeeping troops entered Kosovo after the air campaign of the North Atlantic Alliance against Serbian military and police targets in Kosovo and Serbia.

The former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, wrote on the "X" social network that he feels grateful for 25 years of peace in Kosovo.

Clinton has been honored in Kosovo for his contribution to the country's liberation. In Pristina, in the square named in honor of Clinton, there is also a statue of him, while a clothing store named Hillary, in honor of the then First Lady of the USA, Hillary Clinton, was opened nearby.

Clinton played a key role in the liberation of Kosovo in 1999, after working with other NATO allies to take military action in defense of the people of Kosovo.

"I can report to the American people that we have scored victories - for a safer world, for our democratic values, and for a stronger America," Clinton said 25 years ago.

In honor of Liberation Day, several different ceremonies will be held in the country, including a solemn session in the Assembly of Kosovo this morning.

Later in the day, the parade of units of the Kosovo Security Force and the Kosovo Police will take place in the square of the capital.

The NATO bombing campaign, which lasted 78 days, ended on June 10, 1999, after the adoption of Resolution 1244 of the Security Council of the United Nations (UN), with the capitulation of Serbia and the withdrawal of its forces from Kosovo.

UN Resolution 1244 in Kosovo established the interim UN administration, UNMIK, to administer the war-torn country for a transitional period until local capacity building and the resolution of Kosovo's status.

It also provided the legal basis for the deployment of 50,000 peacekeeping troops led by NATO to ensure peace in Kosovo, which was also the largest peacekeeping mission of the North Atlantic Alliance.

The deployment of peacekeeping troops was preceded by the Kumanovo Technical Agreement, which provided for the withdrawal of all Serbian forces from Kosovo and the entry of international NATO troops into Kosovo.

The full withdrawal of Serbian troops was completed on June 20, 1999.

The first soldiers who entered the territory of Kosovo in 1999 were members of the Norwegian army. They were part of the peacekeeping forces from 36 countries of the world - of which 30,000 were from NATO countries - that came to Kosovo.

With the entry of international troops, the return to their homes of more than 800,000 refugees, people displaced inside and outside Kosovo, expelled from their homes, who were sheltering in camps in Albania and North Macedonia, was made possible.

NATO's military intervention came after nearly a decade of international diplomatic efforts to stop the wars in the former Yugoslavia. In Kosovo, it was preceded by the Conference of Rambouillet and Paris, where Serbia rejected the compromise to stop the violence of its forces in Kosovo.

In the war of 1998-99, more than 13,000 people were killed and more than 6,000 people disappeared.

Hundreds of killed Albanians from Kosovo have been found in mass graves in Serbia. Their bodies were taken away by Serbian forces in order to cover up the crimes.

Serbia's political and military leaders have been arrested, tried and convicted by the Hague International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.

Among them was Slobodan Milosevic, who died in prison before being convicted for his responsibility in ordering war crimes in Kosovo.

According to the data, more than 1,600 people are still considered missing.

Twenty-five years after entering Kosovo, the number of KFOR troops has decreased and currently there are over 4 thousand troops from 28 countries of the world./ REL