Timeline Kosovo

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1315        The Church of the Holy Virgin was built in Musutiste, Kosovo. In 1999 returning Albanians blew up the church in retaliation for the Serb destruction of their mosque.
    (SFC, 9/7/99, p.A12)

1389        Jun 15, The Serbs were defeated by Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Kosovo at the Field of the Blackbirds. In the battle, the Serb prince Lazar was captured by the Turks and beheaded. Lazar's bones were placed in the monastery at Grancanica in Kosovo. Sultan Murad, the Ottoman leader was killed in the battlefield by the wounded son-in-law of King Lazar. Serbs say that Albanians aided the Turkish invaders. Historical evidence shows that both forces were multinational and that Serbs and Albanian fought on both sides. In 1999 Ismail Kadare, Albanian author, wrote "Elegy for Kosovo," in which he retells the story of the battle. Bosnian King Tvrtko and other Balkan princes along with Albanians fought under the command of Serbian Prince Lazar.
    (SFC, 12/29/96, BR p.7)(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)(WSJ, 5/5/98, p.A20)(HN, 6/15/98)(WSJ, 3/25/99, p.A17)(WSJ, 5/7/99, p.A1,18)(SFEC, 7/23/00, BR p.7)

1389        Serbs, defeated by the Ottoman Turks, moved from Kosovo to the Krajina region of Croatia.
    (WSJ, 4/22/99, A12)

1448        Oct 19, The Ottoman Sultan Murat II defeated Hungarian General Janos Hunyadi at Kosovo, Serbia.
    (HN, 10/19/98)

1912        European powers awarded Kosovo to Serbia rather than the new Republic of Albania. [see Nov, 1913]
    (SFC, 10/28/00, p.A12)

1918        Kosovo became part of the newly created Yugoslavia and was dominated by a Serbian monarchy until WW II.
    (SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)

1945        Kosovo became part of the post-war Communist Yugoslavia under Tito.
    (SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)

1945        An uprising in Kosovo was put down by Tito’s Communists.
    (SFC, 3/14/98, p.A8)

1950s        Tito’s security chief, Alexander Rankovic, a Serb, repressed Kosovo separatism.
    (SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)

1968        In Kosovo, Serbia, ethnic Albanians staged their first pro-independence demonstrations.
    (USAT, 3/24/99, p.4A)

1974        In Yugoslavia under Tito a decentralized federal system allowed the Kosovo region to develop its own security, judiciary, defense, foreign relations and social control. Mahmut Bakalli drafted a constitution that gave the region a status equivalent in most respects to the other republics of Yugoslavia.
    (SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)(SFC, 11/11/98, p.A16)(SFC, 3/27/99, p.A13)

1981        Mar 26, Police and Albanian demonstrators battled in Kosovo.
    (www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8454/8454.ch01.html)

1981        Mar, Kosovar Albanian students organized protests seeking that Kosovo become a Republic within Yugoslavia. The protests were harshly contained by the centralist Yugoslav and Serbian governments.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_in_Kosovo)

1989        Jun 28, In a speech at Kosovo Polje Slobodan Milosevic stated that "Yugoslavia is a multinational community and it can survive only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in it."
    (www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10258)

1989        Bujar Bukoshi was elected the prime minister of the Kosovo Regional Government.
    (WSJ, 4/28/99, p.A14)
1989         The Milosevic regime in Yugoslavia made constitutional changes to consolidate power over the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Kosovo, whose 1.9 million people are 90% Albanian, lost its autonomy and was placed under Serbian rule. The constitution passed without the approval of the parliament of Kosova. The Serbs fired most Albanians and closed many enterprises. Muslim unrest followed and Kosovo was occupied. 90% of the population of Kosovo was made up of some 2.2 million ethnic Albanians.
    (SFC, 6/11/96, p.A14)(SFC, 5/11/96, p.A-10)(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A13) (SFC,12/10/97, p.C2) (www, Albania, 1998)

1990        Jul, In Albania young people demonstrated against the regime in Tirana, 5,000 citizens sought refuge in foreign embassies. Delegates of the parliament of Kosova declared the independence of Kosova from Serbia. Subsequently Serbia abolished the parliament and government of Kosova, closed down the only Albanian daily, and took over the state-owned television and radio. The Albanians of Kosovo voted for sovereignty and elected a shadow government that was banned by Milosevic. In 1992 Ibrahim Rugova (1944-2006) was elected president and Fehmi Agani was the vice-president.
    (SFC,12/10/97, p.C2)(www, Albania, 1998)(Econ, 1/28/06, p.84)

1991        In Kosovo the ethnic Albanian faculty and students of Pristina Univ. were forced out and Serbs took over.
    (SFC, 8/3/99, p.A9)

1992        May 24, Kosovo Albanians held unofficial elections for an assembly and president. Ibrahim Rugova won an overwhelming majority and was elected President of Kosovo.
    (www.hrw.org/reports/1992/yugoslavia/)

1992        Dec 24, Pres. Bush had the US Embassy in Belgrade read to Pres. Milosevic the "Christmas Warning" cable: "In the event of conflict in Kosovo caused by Serbian action, the US will be prepared to employ military force against Serbians in Kosovo and in Serbia proper.
    (SFC, 1/19/02, p.A19)

1995        Aug, The extremist radical party of Serbia under Vojislav Seselj published a manifesto titled: "How To Solve the Problem of Kosovo." It advocated firing Albanian workers, encouraging Serbian colonization, military occupation and buffer zones along the Albanian and Macedonian borders.
    (SFEC, 6/27/99, p.A7)

1995        Aug, Some 200,000 Serbs were moved from the Krajina region. More than 4,500 were killed and some 3,000 are still listed as missing in an operation that was directed by retired American generals through MPRI of Alexandria, Va. About 14,000 Krajina Serbs ended up in Kosovo until 1998, when they left as violence spread.
    (WSJ, 8/1/96 p.A15)(SFC, 7/6/99, p.B1)

1996        The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began launching attacks against police stations. The KLA was led by Hashim Thaci and his lieutenants Azem Syla and Xhavit Halati.
    (SFC,12/10/97, p.C4)(SFC, 6/25/99, p.A10)

1997        Jan 16, Guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army set off a bomb that wounded Radivoje Papovic, hard-line Serbian rector of the Univ. in Pristina.
    (SFC, 2/21/96, p.A13)

1997        Feb 3, Belgrade police beat up protestors and representatives of Kosovo’s Albanian majority said 5 people were killed in a police sweep.
    (SFC, 2/4/97, p.A8)

1997        May 30, A Serbian court convicted 20 ethnic Albanians of terrorism for a wave of attacks in Kosovo. They belonged to the National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo.
    (SFC, 5/31/97, p.A13)

1997        Jun, In Albania Ali Uka, a journalist who criticized the Kosovo Liberation Army, was murdered. Uka was brutally disfigured with a bottle and a screwdriver. Hashim Thaci was his roommate at this time.
    (Econ, 1/29/11, p.50)

1997        Oct 1, In Serbia It was reported that Albanian students in Kosovo planned to demonstrate in the streets for equal access to the university on par with the Serb students at Pristina. Some 20,000 students protested and were attacked by Serb police. At least 30 students were injured. 500 students were attacked by Serbian police.
    (SFC, 10/2/97, p.A10)(SFC, 10/2/97, p.A12)(SFC,12/10/97, p.C2)

1997        Nov 28, The KLA emerged in Kosovo with expensive Swiss manufactured uniforms and purloined Albanian Kalashnikovs.
    (SFC, 5/5/99, p.A13)

1997        Nov, An Interpol report said that Kosovo Albanians hold the largest share of the heroin market in Europe.
    (SFC, 5/5/99, p.A1)

1998        Feb 28, In Likoshan two Serbian police officers were killed. Police blamed the Kosovo Liberation Army. The Serbian SAJ, an anti-terrorist unit, was immediately called to the scene and rounded up 10 males who were summarily shot. Another 15 villagers were also killed.
    (SFC, 3/11/98, p.A8)

1998        Mar 1, Weekend clashes in Kosovo left 24 ethnic Albanians and 4 Serb policemen dead. Police arrested 5 people and seized weapons caches.
    (WSJ, 3/2/98, p.A1)(FT, 3/4/98, p.1)

1998        Mar 2, Serb police clashed with 30,000 protesting Albanians in Kosovo.
    (WSJ, 3/3/98, p.A1)

1998        Mar 5, Serbian police mounted a counterinsurgency operation and killed 20 ethnic Albanians in the Drenica region of Kosovo.
    (SFC, 3/6/98, p.A13)

1998        Mar 6, Police in Kosovo reported that they killed Adem Jashari, a leader in the Kosovo Liberation Army, in Donji Prekaz in the Drenica region. 45 Albanians and 6 Serb police were reported dead. Of the 46 bodies 11 were women and 9 children. Six of the men were elderly.
    (SFC, 3/7/98, p.A6)(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A8)

1998        Mar 8, In Kosovo 7,000 Albanian women marched against the crackdown on separatist guerrillas.
    (SFC, 3/9/98, p.A10)

1998        Mar 10, In Kosovo Serbian police seized the bodies of 51 ethnic Albanians, killed in a sweep of separatists, and buried them into bulldozed over graves.
    (SFC, 3/11/98, p.A1)

1998        Mar 12, Serbian leaders proposed talks for autonomy in Kosovo, but residents dismissed the offer.
    (SFC, 3/13/98, p.A12)

1998        Mar 13, In Kosovo 40,000 ethnic Albanians protested against Serbia.
    (SFC, 3/14/98, p.A8)

1998        Mar 19, Pres. Milosevic agreed to pull back special police in Kosovo under a deadline by world powers.
    (SFC, 3/20/98, p.A12)

1998        Mar 21, Six members of the SF-based Peace workers group were arrested and sentenced to 10 days in jail in Kosovo for not reporting their presence to police. 3 were from the Bay Area. They were released Mar 23.
    (SFEC, 3/22/98, p.A1)(SFC, 3/23/98, p.A11)(SFC, 3/24/98, p.A10)

1998        Mar 22, Kosovo Albanians elected Ibrahim Rugova as president. Serb officials pronounced the elections meaningless.
    (SFC, 3/23/98, p.A9)

1998        Mar 23, Serbian and Albanian leaders agree to allow ethnic Albanians into the state university system in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 3/24/98, p.A10)

1998        Mar 24, In Kosovo Albanian separatists ambushed a police patrol and one policeman was killed.
    (SFC, 3/25/98, p.A10)

1998        Mar 26, In Serbia Pres. Milosevic ordered several hundred additional police to Kosovo. Serbs protested the killing of a policeman and 2 ethnic Albanians were killed in a police counterattack.
    (SFC, 3/27/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 3/27/98, p.A1)

1998        Mar 31, The UN Security Council imposed a new arms embargo on Yugoslavia to press Milosevic to grant ethnic Albanians concessions in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 4/1/98, p.A8)(AP, Internet, 3/31/99)

1998        Apr 22, Yugoslavian troops claimed to have killed 23 ethnic Albanian infiltrators in the border region in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 4/24/98, p.A16)

1998        Apr 23, The president of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, called for full autonomy for the Kosovo region.
    (SFC, 4/24/98, p.A16)

1998        Apr 27, In Kosovo the Yugoslav army clashed with ethnic Albanians and 3 insurgents were killed. Albanian reports said up to a dozen were slain and that none of them were militants.
    (SFC, 4/28/98, p.A8)

1998        Apr 29, The US and European powers decided to impose new sanctions and agreed to freeze the assets of Yugoslavia. A ban on investments would follow in 10 days if security police was not withdrawn from Kosova.
    (SFC, 4/30/98, p.A8)

1998        Apr, Ilir Konushevci, a KLA commander, was ambushed and killed outside Tropoja in northern Albania. He had recently accused Xhavit Haliti, a lieutenant of Hashim Thaci, of buying grenades for $2 and selling them to the KLA for $7.
    (SFC, 6/25/99, p.A12)

1998        May 1, A police raid in Drenica left 4 ethnic Albanians dead.
    (BS, 5/3/98, p.19A)

1998        May 3, Fighting began in the Kosovo village of Ponosevac and 10 ethnic Albanians were reported killed by Serbian police.
    (WSJ, 5/5/98, p.A1)

1998        May 6, Fighting in Kosovo continued. A Serb policeman and an ethnic Albanian separatist were killed. The bodies of 2 Albanians who backed Serb rule were pulled from a river and a local politician died in a third attack.
    (WSJ, 5/7/98, p.A1)

1998        May 9, The leading Group of Eight industrialized countries imposed an investment ban on Serbia and froze and froze the assets abroad of Serbia and Montenegro due to conditions in Kosovo. The sanctions did not go into effect because Serbia began talks with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
    (SFEC, 5/10/98, p.A13)(WSJ, 5/19/98, p.A1)

1998        May 13, In Kosovo Serbian police clashed with ethnic Albanians and 2 ethnic Albanians were reported killed in Pristina. The police had found the site of the attack to be loaded with weapons.
    (SFC, 5/13/98, p.A13)

1998        May 15, Serbian police began to turn back truckers in a blockade of Kosovo. Shortage of critical food supplies soon developed.
    (SFC, 5/20/98, p.C16)

1998        May 22, A joint peacekeeping force was set up by 7 European nations to maintain peace in Kosovo. Deputy defense ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Romania and Turkey signed on after meeting in Tirana. Slovenia and the US signed on as observers.
    (SFC, 5/23/98, p.A14)

1998        May 29, In Kosovo a Serb policeman was killed and another wounded in the Decani region. A 3-day Serb offensive began that left over 60 ethnic Albanians dead in Vranoc and other villages in the area.
    (SFC, 5/30/98, p.A11)(SFC, 7/16/98, p.A10)

1998        Jun 1, Refugees from Kosovo poured into Albania to escape fighting that began last week around Decani. 39 people were reported dead.
    (WSJ, 6/2/98, p.A3)

1998        Jun 3, Special Serbian forces reported 40 people killed in a 5-day operation in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 6/4/98, p.A10)

1998        Jun 4, In Pristina, Serbia, the Kosovo Albanians withdrew from negotiations with Serbia due to the new Serbian offensive.
    (SFC, 6/5/98, p.D2)

1998        Jun 7, Pres. Milosevic agreed to allow diplomatic observers to enter and move about in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 6/8/98, p.A10)

1998        Jun 14, In Kosovo the fighting intensified as Serbs launched 500 grenades into villages in western Kosovo..
    (SFC, 6/15/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/15/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun 15, US F-16 fighter jets took off as part of a 13-nation, 85 warplane show of force over Albania and Macedonia. Meanwhile Serb forces attacked 4 Kosovo villages with grenades and helicopter gunships and began sealing off the border to Albania.
    (SFC, 6/15/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/15/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/16/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/16/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/20/98, p.B2)

1998        Jun 16, In Serbia Pres. Milosevic agreed to allow monitors into Kosovo and to begin talks with Kosovo Albanian leaders, but not to withdraw his military forces until "terrorist activities subside."
    (WSJ, 6/17/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun 17, Serb troops killed at least 10 Albanians they said were trying to cross the border into Kosovo.
    (WSJ, 6/18/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun 20, In Kosovo 3 Serbian police were killed and four were held by the Kosovo separatist army during fighting in the Decani area.
    (SFEC, 6/21/98, p.A25)

1998        Jun 22, In Kosovo ethnic Albanians kidnapped 3 Serbs and took over the mine pit at Belacevac.
    (WSJ, 6/23/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/30/98, p.A8)

1998        Jun 29, Serbian troops opened a series of attacks in Kosovo in the mining town of Belacevac and Lapushnik.
    (SFC, 6/30/98, p.A8)

1998        Jun 30, Serbian forces recaptured the Kosovo coal mine at Belacevac.
    (SFC, 7/1/98, p.A8)

1998        Jul 3, Serbian forces in Kosovo broke through a stone blockade near Kijevo.
    (SFC, 7/4/98, p.A8)

1998        Jul 4, Fresh fighting erupted outside Suva Reka, a region with 60,000 residents.
    (SFEC, 7/5/98, p.A17)

1998        Jul 8, The US and European countries demanded an immediate cease fire in Kosovo and called for a crackdown on the flow of funds to ethnic Albanian rebels.
    (SFC, 7/9/98, p.A10)

1998        Jul 19, In Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Albanian separatists claimed to have take the town of Orahovac with 20,000 residents. Serbs forces denied the claim.
    (SFEC, 7/20/98, p.A10)

1998        Jul 21, Serbian forces forced the Kosovo Liberation Army out of Orahovac. The rebels and some 15,000 refugees fled northeast to the city of Malisevo.
    (SFC, 7/22/98, p.A10)

1998        Jul 25, Serb forces attacked rebel positions in Kosovo to clear major roads.
    (SFC, 7/27/98, p.A8)

1998        Jul 31, In Kosovo refugees fled Serb attacks one day after Serbia declared that the military offensive was over.
    (SFC, 8/1/98, p.A10)

1998        Aug 6, NATO set exercises in Albania for Aug 17-22 to show force against the Serb offensive in Kosovo.
    (WSJ, 8/7/98, p.A1)

1998        Aug 10, In Kosovo ethnic Albanians reportedly killed 10 police officers. 3 KLA rebels were also reported killed.
    (SFC, 8/11/98, p.A10)

1998        Aug 14, Adem Demaci agreed to take the leadership of the political wing of the KLA.
    (SFC, 8/15/98, p.A16)

1998        Aug 15, Serbian forces seized the Kosovo rebel town of Junik
    (SFC, 8/17/98, p.A8)

1998        Aug 27, In Kosovo a Serb shell was said to have killed 11 of 14 members of the Asllani family fleeing the village of Grape outside of Pristina.
    (WSJ, 8/28/98, p.A1)(SFC, 8/28/98, p.D4)

1998        Sep 2, Serb forces in Kosovo pressed attacks in the town of Prizren.
    (WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A1)

1998        Sep 8, Serb forces opened an offensive on Kosovo’s border with Albania and 2 people were reported killed in Prilep.
    (WSJ, 9/9/98, p.A1)

1998        Sep 9, In Kosovo some 25,000 civilians streamed out of the southwest as Serbian forces shelled their villages.
    (SFC, 9/10/98, p.A13)
1998        Sep 9, Pres. Clinton released $20 million in aid for the refugees in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 9/11/98, p.D3)

1998        Sep 16, Serb forces in Kosovo attacked 12 villages between Mitrovica and Podujevo, 20 miles north of Pristina.
    (SFC, 9/17/98, p.A15)

1998        Sep 21, Ahmet Krasniqi, a form Yugoslav colonel, was killed. He was the commander of the Armed Forces of the Kosovo Republic and his murder was reportedly ordered by KLA commander Hashim Thaci.
    (SFC, 6/25/99, p.A12)

1998        Sep 22, In Kosovo Serbian troops began an offensive against the last of stronghold of ethnic Albanian separatists. Many rebels were reported killed.
    (SFC, 9/23/98, p.A10)

1998        Sep 23, The UN adopted a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 9/24/98, p.A12)

1998        Sep 24, NATO instructed its generals to begin preparing for air strikes on Yugoslavia unless pres. Milosevic ends his attacks on ethnic Albanians.
    (SFC, 9/25/98, p.A12)

1998        Sep 26, In Kosovo the Yugoslav army and Serbian police shot and killed 15 women, children and elderly of the Deliaj clan in Gornji Obrinje. Three men were burned to death and 3 more villagers were killed in nearby Donji Obrinje.
    (SFC, 9/30/98, p.A1)

1998        Sep 27, Serbian troops bombarded and burned villages in southern Kosovo.
    (SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)

1998        Oct 1, The UN sent a new warning to Pres. Milosevic of Serbia over the atrocities in Kosovo. Seeking to head off threatened NATO attacks, Yugoslavia's Serb leadership invited foreign experts to investigate massacres in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 10/2/98, p.A1)(AP, 10/1/99)

1998        Oct 8, In Kosovo, Serbia, ethnic Albanian rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire.
    (SFC, 10/9/98, p.A12)

1998        Oct 9, US diplomats met twice with Yugoslav Pres. Milosevic to resolve the crises in Kosovo and avert a NATO attack.
    (SFC, 10/10/98, p.A8)

1998        Oct 12, Yugoslav Pres. Milosevic agreed to withdraw troops from Kosovo and allow int’l. verification as NATO authorized air strikes if he does not comply.
    (SFC, 10/13/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 13, Serbian authorities announced that elections will be held in Kosovo under int’l. supervision next year.
    (SFC, 10/14/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 16, Serbian Pres. Milosevic was given an additional 10 days to withdraw forces from Kosovo and comply with UN demands.
    (SFC, 10/17/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 22, In Kosovo 4 refugees, that included 3 children, were killed trying to cross the Albanian border. Pres. Milosevic claimed that he had met NATO demands to pull Serb forces out of Kosovo.
    (WSJ, 10/23/98, p.A1)(SFC, 10/24/98, p.A10)

1998        Oct 23, In Kosovo 4 people were killed trying to cross into Albania when they stepped on mines.
    (SFC, 10/24/98, p.A10)
1998        Oct 26, In Kosovo Serb forces appeared to be withdrawing under the threat of NATO air strikes.
    (SFC, 10/27/98, p.B1)

1998        Oct 27, Serb forces drew back from former Kosovo battlefronts, holding off the immediate threat of NATO airstrikes.
    (AP, 10/27/99)

1998        Nov 6, In Kosovo 5 ethnic Albanians were killed in a shootout with Serbian police after they left a meeting with US diplomat Chris Hill at Dragobil. Two others were killed the day before.
    (SFC, 11/7/98, p.A13)(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C9)

1998        Nov 18, Pres. Milan Milutinovic rejected a US blueprint for the future of Kosovo, saying that it gave too much power to the ethnic Albanians.
    (SFC, 11/19/98, p.A12)

1998        Dec 3, Yugoslav border guards killed 8 ethnic Albanians as they tried to cross the border into Kosovo. In Pristina Hizri Talla, a senior guerrilla commander was killed along with Kosovar journalist Afrim Maliqi and student Ilir Durmishi.
    (WSJ, 12/3/98, p.A1)(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C9)

1998        Dec 14, In Kosovo Serbian border guards killed 31 ethnic Albanian guerrillas on the Albanian border.
    (SFC, 12/15/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 12/15/98, p.A1)
1998        Dec 14, In Pec masked Albanian rebels opened fire in the Panda barroom and killed 6 young Kosovo Serbs.
    (SFC, 12/17/98, p.C2)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D4)

1998        Dec 17, Serbian police attacked a suspected rebel-controlled village in Kosovo. Two ethnic Albanian fighters were killed and 34 were arrested in Glodjane.
    (SFC, 12/18/98, p.D4)

1998        Dec 18, In Kosovo, Serbia, Zvonko Bojanic, district mayor of Kosovo Polje, was found severely beaten and shot between the eyes.
    (SFC, 12/19/98, p.A6)

1998        Dec 21, In Kosovo, Serbia, Milic Jovic (52), a Serbian police officer, was shot and killed in Podujevo.
    (SFC, 12/22/98, p.C2)

1998        Dec 25, In Serbia US diplomats in Kosovo persuaded army officers to pull back some of their forces.
    (SFC, 12/26/98, p.A8)

1998        Dec 29, In Kosovo 5 Albanians died in fighting with Serb police as NATO repeated threats of airstrikes. A group of US senators proposed to offer Milosevic sanctuary in a 3rd nation if he would step down.
    (WSJ, 12/30/98, p.A1)

1998        Noel Malcolm published "Kosovo: A Short History," a history of the troubled region and Albania. Malcolm earlier wrote "Bosnia: A Short History."
    (WSJ, 5/5/98, p.A20)(SFEC, 9/6/98, BR p.8)

1999        Jan 8, In Kosovo ethnic Albanians killed 3 Serbian police officers in separate ambushes. Ethnic Albanians also seized 8 Yugoslav soldiers.
    (SFC, 1/9/99, p.A9)(SFC, 1/12/99, p.A8)

1999        Jan 11, In Kosovo Enver Maloku, the head of the Kosovo Information Center, was shot and killed by 3 assassins in Pristina.
    (SFC, 1/12/99, p.A8)

1999        Jan 13, In Kosovo rebels freed 8 Yugoslav soldiers after getting private incentives from int'l. officials.
    (SFC, 1/14/99, p.A11)

1999        Jan 15, In Kosovo Yugoslav army units killed 15 Albanian rebels. Later reports indicated that 45 Albanians were massacred at Racak.
    (SFC, 1/16/99, p.A10)(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A10)

1999        Jan 16, In Kosovo 45 ethnic Albanians were found massacred at Racak. It was later reported that the killing was ordered by senior Serbian officials, who attempted to orchestrate a coverup.
    (SFEC, 1/17/99, p.A1)(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A10)(SFC, 1/28/99, p.A1)

1999        Jan 18, In Serbia Pres. Milosevic ordered the expulsion of Ambassador William Walker within 48 hours. Walker had accused Serbian forces in the recent massacre of 45 people in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 1/19/99, p.A1)

1999        Jan 19, In Serbia Gen'l. Wesley Clark and Gen'l. Klaus Naumann met with Pres. Milosevic and threatened him with NATO airstrikes due to the massacre of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
    (SFEC, 4/18/99, p.A3)

1999        Jan 20, NATO moved forces within striking distance of Yugoslavia and warned Belgrade to stop its repression in Kosovo.
    (WSJ, 1/21/99, p.A15)

1999        Jan 23, The Yugoslav government released 9 ethnic Albanians, captured Dec 14, while the KLA released 5 elderly Serbian civilians, captured Jan 21.
    (SFEC, 1/24/99, p.A20)

1999        Jan 25, In Rakovina, Kosovo 5 ethnic Albanians, including 2 children, were found riddled with bullets.
    (SFC, 1/26/99, p.A12)

1999        Jan 27, The Clinton administration announced a plan to end fighting in Kosovo. It called for NATO air strikes if autonomy to the region is not accepted by Pres. Milosevic.
    (SFC, 1/28/99, p.A12)

1999        Jan 28, NATO allies warned Pres. Milosevic that they were ready to use immediate force, and Britain and France said they were prepared to send in ground troops to enforce a peace settlement in Kosovo.
    (SFEC, 4/18/99, p.A3)

1999        Jan 29, The US and major European allies set Feb 19 as a deadline for Serbia to accept a peace plan in Kosovo or face NATO bombing.
    (SFC, 1/30/99, p.A1)
1999        Jan 29, In Kosovo Serbian police killed 24 ethnic Albanians following the death of one Serbian officer.
    (SFC, 1/30/99, p.A10)

1999        Feb 2, In Kosovo members of the KLA agreed to attend peace talks in France.
    (SFC, 2/3/99, p.A9)

1999        Feb 3, In Kosovo members of the KLA demanded that peace talks include a guaranteed vote for independence.
    (SFC, 2/4/99, p.A10)

1999        Feb 5, Serbian authorities refused to grant re-entry travel documents to  Albanian guerrilla members for the peace conference in Paris. The 13 Serbian negotiators appointed by Milosevic said they would not sit down with members of the KLA.
    (SFC, 2/6/99, p.A10)

1999        Feb 7, Delegates at the Kosovo peace talks agreed on principles that would keep the province within Yugoslavia for at least 3 more years.
    (WSJ, 2/8/99, p.A1)

1999        Feb 10, In Kosovo Serbian authorities returned the bodies of 40 civilian Albanians who were killed at Racak.
    (SFC, 2/11/99, p.A14)

1999        Feb 14, In Kosovo a bomb explosion in Urosevac wounded at least 9 people. Serbian police rounded up about 40 independence activist Albanians.
    (SFC, 2/15/99, p.A8)
1999        Feb 14, In Rambouillet, France, Madeline Albright brought together the Serb and Albanian sides in the Kosovo peace talks and the talks were extended one week. The plan for a 3-year interim settlement included a NATO force of some 25,000 troops, who would collect the weapons of the Albanian rebels. In the plan the KLA was given 120 days to surrender its arms.
    (SFC, 2/15/99, p.A8)(WSJ, 6/16/99, p.A20)

1999        Feb 20, In France the peace talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians of Kosovo were extended for 2 days.
    (SFEC, 2/21/99, p.A1)

1999        Feb 23, In France the Kosovo Albanians agreed in principle to a peace settlement but asked for 2 more weeks for consultations at home.
    (SFC, 2/24/99, p.A1)

1999        Feb 24, In Kosovo ethnic Albanians planned a provisional government, but Adem Demaci, a leader in the rebel army, said that he would not recognize it.
    (SFC, 2/25/99, p.A10)

1999        Mar 2, In Kosovo KLA leader Adem Demaci announced that he would step down but would continue to oppose the peace plan. Meanwhile Yugoslav tank and mortar fire pounded rebel positions in the hillsides of the Macedonian border. Demaci was replaced by Hashim Thaci (29).
    (SFC, 3/3/99, p.A8)(SFC, 3/4/99, p.A12)

1999        Mar 3, In Kosovo the KLA reverted to its earlier guerrilla tactics and killed 2 Serbians.
    (SFC, 3/5/99, p.D3)

1999        Mar 8, Kosovo KLA leaders agreed to accept a peace plan but commander Ramush Hajredinaj insisted that they would not give up their arms.
    (SFC, 3/9/99, p.A12)

1999        Mar 11, In Kosovo fighting spread as Yugoslav forces shelled villages near Prizren.
    (SFC, 3/12/99, p.A14)

1999        Mar 13, In Kosovo 2 bombs struck in Podujevo and 1 in Kosovska Mitrovica killing 6 people and wounding 58. The state TV blamed the Albanians, who in turn blamed the Serbs.
    (SFEC, 3/14/99, p.A17)

1999        Mar 14, In Kosovo heavy fighting preceded the resumption of peace talks in Paris.
    (SFC, 3/15/99, p.A1)

1999        Mar 15, In Kosovo the ethnic Albanians gave a written pledge to sign a peace proposal.
    (SFC, 3/16/99, p.A8)

1999        Mar 16, In Kosovo Serbia moved in heavy tanks and thousands more troops as their negotiators insisted on major changes in the Paris peace talks.
    (SFC, 3/17/99, p.A8)

1999        Mar 20, Serb forces in Kosovo launched a new offensive along a 20-mile arc west and northwest of Pristina.
    (SFEC, 3/21/99, p.A1)

1999        Mar 21, On the 2nd day of Serb attacks against Kosovo, envoy Richard Holbrooke met with Pres. Milosevic with serious threats of NATO air strikes.
    (SFC, 3/22/99, p.A1)

1999        Mar 24, In Serbia NATO forces sent a broad wave of air attacks against Yugoslav forces in an attempt to halt the Serbian offensive in Kosovo. Cruise missiles and planes targeted military sites near Belgrade and some 40 sites in total. Initial reports said 10 people were killed and 38 wounded in the bombing. The airstrikes marked the first time in its 50-year existence that NATO had ever attacked a sovereign country. NATO’s 78-day bombing ended on June 10.
    (SFC, 3/25/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/25/99, p.A1)(SFC, 3/26/99, p.A6)(AP, 3/24/00)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.51)

1999        Mar 25, NATO forces struck Serbian air defenses and other sites as Serb forces stepped up their efforts to crush resistance in Kosovo. The village of Goden was burned by Serb forces and 174 residents were forced to leave. 20 men were kept back and presumed killed.
    (SFC, 3/26/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A1,8)
1999        Mar 25, Some 70 men were reported massacred at the village Bellacerk (Bela Crkva) in Kosovo. In the village of Velika Krusa 14 ethnic Albanians were killed and burned by Serb police and paramilitaries. Selami Elshani played dead escaped to tell the story. Investigators in Bela Crkva later found the bodies of 12 people including 7 children, all shot in the back of the head, killed during the rampage.
    (SFC, 4/6/99, p.A8)(SFEC, 4/18/99, p.1,4)
1999        Mar 25, In Kosovo Serbian police officers took away Bajram Kelmendi, a human rights lawyer, and his 2 sons. Their bodies were found the next day.
    (SFEC, 3/28/99, p.A17)

1999        Mar 26, American-led NATO forces launched a third night of airstrikes against Yugoslavia and 2 MiG-29 fighters were shot down as Serbian troops continued to sweep ethnic Albanian villages in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 3/27/99, p.A1)(AP, 3/26/00)
1999        Mar 26, Serbian forces rounded up ethnic Albanian villages in Krushe e Vogel, Kosovo. Serb forces herded 114 men and boys into a barn, including a disabled man whose wheelchair was used to block one of the exits. The Serbs then riddled the barn with bullets from automatic weapons before torching it and all those inside. In 2011 a UN court sentenced former Serbian police chief Vlastimir Djordjevic to 27 years in prison for orchestrating the murder of hundreds of ethnic Albanians.
    (SSFC, 9/8/02, p.F1)(AP, 2/23/11)

1999        Mar 27, Serbian troops ordered villagers of Mamusa, Kosovo, to drive refugees to the border. 3 Turks and 4 ethnic Albanians were killed and 30 houses were burned.
    (SFC, 3/12/02, p.A10)

1999        Mar 28, NATO broadened its attacks on Yugoslavia to target Serb military forces in Kosovo in the fifth straight night of airstrikes. UN officials reported that some 500,000 ethnic Albanians had fled Kosovo. NATO officials raised the possibility of using ground troops in Yugoslavia as low-level strikes against tanks began. It was feared that anger over the war would spill over to Bosnia.
    (SFC, 3/29/99, p.A1,10)(AP, 3/28/00)
1999        Mar 28, The notorious Scorpions unit stormed the northern Kosovo town of Podujevo. In 2004 a Belgrade court convicted Sasa Cvjetan, a member of the unit, of killing 14 ethnic Albanian civilians, mostly women and children. The verdict was overturned but in 2005 a re-trial confirmed his guilt and 20-year sentence. In 2008 four members of the Scorpions paramilitary group were tried by a Belgrade court for allegedly gunning down 19 civilians in Podujevo. On June 18, 2009, they were convicted sentenced to between 15 and 20 years in prison. 
    (AP, 6/17/05)(AP, 12/11/08)(AP, 6/18/09)(www.hlc-rdc.org/Saopstenja/1712.en.html)
1999        Mar 28, Muhamet Bajrahtar, an American citizen from Chicago, was shot by Serbian police near Glokovce, Kosovo. He died 2 days later. He was in Kosovo to help bring out his family, who used his documents and made it to the US 2 months later.
    (SFEC, 5/23/99, p.A24)

1999        Mar 29, Albania and Macedonia appealed for help as thousands of refugees fled Kosovo on the 6th day of bombing. NATO said Serbs were targeting ethnic Albanian leadership for executions and the US accused Milosevic of "crimes against humanity."
    (WSJ, 3/30/99, p.A1)

1999        Mar 30, In Serbia Pres. Milosevic said in a meeting with Premier Primakov of Russia that he would resume peace talks if allied bombing stops. The US called the offer "woefully inadequate." NATO moved to step up the air war and Serbian forces continued unopposed in Kosovo as refugees streamed out.
    (WSJ, 3/31/99, p.A1)
1999        Mar 30, Serbian forces in Qysk yanked Arif Mazrekaj and 70 other men from a column of refugees leaving Kosovo. Mazrekaj's body was later found at the bottom of a well.
    (SFC, 8/28/99, p.A12)

1999        Mar 31, In the village of Dzakovo, Kosovo, a witness reported the Serbian paramilitary forces invade a mosque during morning prayers and killed some 80 people.
    (SFC, 4/6/99, p.A8)

1999        Mar, Serbian police rounded up members of a Kosovo Albanian family in their village of Suva Reka, killing several men with machine-gun fire before forcing the rest into a pizza restaurant and throwing hand-grenades at them. In 2009 four former Serbian policemen were found guilty of the massacre of 48 Kosovo Albanians. They were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
    (AP, 4/23/09)

1999        Mar-1999 Jun, A US State Dept. report in Dec. estimated that 10,000 Albanians were killed in Kosovo during this period with 1.5 million expelled from their homes.
    (SFC, 12/10/99, p.D6)

1999        Apr 1, Serbian radio and TV reported that Pres. Milosevic met with Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, and "came to a joint stand on resolving problems… through political means."
    (SFC, 4/2/99, p.A1)
1999        Apr 1, In Ljubenic, Kosovo, an initial group of 80 people were executed by Serbian paramilitaries. On Jul 9 peacekeepers said the remains of as many as 350 victims were found.
    (SFC, 7/10/99, p.A10)

1999        Apr 2, NATO planners began preliminary discussions about the possibility of sending ground troops into Kosovo.
    (SFC, 4/3/99, p.A1)
1999        Apr 2, At least 55 people were gunned down by Serbian police and militiamen in the Kosovo city of Djakovica.
    (SFC, 4/29/99, p.D2)

1999        Apr 3, Montenegro announced that over 31,000 Kosovar Albanians had entered the country since NATO assaults began and that it was facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
    (SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)

1999        Apr 4, NATO dropped more bombs on downtown Belgrade and said that it would send some 8,000 troops into Albania to help Kosovo refugees. The Freedom Bridge over the Danube at Novi Sad was destroyed. The US announced that it would send 24 Apache helicopter gunships to attack Serbian troops and tanks in Kosovo. Some 30,000 refugees crossed into Albania in the last 24-hour period. Shipping on the Danube was not fully restored until 2002.
    (SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A1,12)(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A1,10)(SSFC, 2/3/02, Par p.7)
1999        Apr 4, Bexhet Ahmeti witnessed Serb militiamen shoot and burn 5 Kosovars.
    (SFC, 4/21/99, p.A10)

1999        Apr 5, NATO attacks struck Belgrade, Nis and Novi Sad in the most ferocious attacks to date. The first Kosovo refugees were flown out to Norway and Turkey and the US said it would take some 20,000 to Guantanamo Ari Base in Cuba. Pres. Clinton asked for public donations for the relief effort.
    (SFC, 4/6/99, p.A1,8)

1999        Apr 7, Heavy NATO bombing reportedly killed 10 civilians in Pristina, Kosovo. The Provincial Executive Council Building, which housed the offices of Zoran Andjelkovic, Kosovo's top Serbian official, were was hit by bombs.
    (SFC, 4/8/99, p.AQ10)

1999        Apr 8, Serbia said it had ended its Kosovo offensive and was allowing refugees to return home.
    (WSJ, 4/9/99, p.A10)
1999        Apr 8, In Kacanik, Kosovo, a Serbian firefight with the KLA left 17 people dead.
    (SFC, 6/15/99, p.A12)

1999        Apr 10, Serbia allowed some 1,500 refugees from Vragolija to leave Kosovo for Albania. Some 4,000 refugees crossed into Albania.
    (SFEC, 4/11/99, p.A14,26)

1999        Apr 11, NATO restrained bombing over the Orthodox Easter but struck at least 50 targets in Kosovo alone. 3 Serbian civilians were reported killed.
    (SFC, 4/12/99, p.A13)

1999        Apr 12, NATO allies considered establishing a protectorate to shield Kosovo from Yugoslav forces. Senior commander Gen'l. Wesley Clark asked the Pentagon for 300 more warplanes. NATO bombs hit a train car at a railroad bridge over the Juzna Morava River and 10 were killed and 16 injured.
    (SFC, 4/13/99, p.A12)(WSJ, 4/13/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/14/99, p.A13)(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A7)

1999        Apr 13, Aleksandar Vukovic, a Serbian soldier, died from bullet wounds in northern Kosovo. His father in 1999 rejected a war decoration from the Milosevic government and blamed Milosevic for the loss of 75 young men over 10 years from Kraljevo.
    (SFC, 12/24/99, p.A17)

1999        Apr 14, NATO warplanes mistakenly struck refugee vehicles and some 60-75 ethnic Albanians were reported killed near Djakovica in Kosovo. NATO acknowledged the next day that a civilian vehicle had been hit and broadcast a taped interview with the US pilot who carried out the mission. A week later NATO acknowledged that 2 separate groups of vehicles were hit.
    (SFC, 4/15/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/16/99, p.A1,16)(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A6)

1999        Apr 16, Thousands of refugees poured out of Kosovo as NATO blasted oil refineries, military barracks and airports around Yugoslavia. At least 5,000 refugees crossed into Macedonia, and 8,000 into Albania. Some 100,000 were believed to be enroute to Macedonia.
    (SFC, 4/17/99, p.A1)
1999        Apr 16, Serbian paramilitaries killed 15 people in the Kosovo town of Silovi. 16 people in the village of Sloviniya were killed by some 80 paramilitary troops.
    (SFC, 4/26/99, p.A12)(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A8)

1999        Apr 19, Yugoslav authorities shut down the Morini border crossing to Albania. NATO bombing continued and a Serb government headquarters building in Novi Sad was badly damaged. An estimated 500,000 to 850,000 ethnic Albanians remained were still inside Kosovo.
    (SFC, 4/20/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/20/99, A1)
1999        Apr 19, In Hallac 20 Albanian men were killed by Serb paramilitaries. 11 were shot in a vacant lot and 9 were killed in their homes. They were buried in a mass grave and later reburied individually just before NATO forces moved into Kosovo.
    (SFC, 6/14/99, p.A12)

1999        Apr 22, An early morning missile hit the home of Pres. Milosevic at 15 Uzicke St. in Belgrade. NATO bombs also hit the Serbian TV station in Belgrade and killed 15-16 people. Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin after meeting with Pres. Milosevic in Belgrade said Milosevic would accept an int'l. presence in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 4/23/99, p.A1,18)(USAT, 4/23/99, p.1A)(SFC, 4/24/00, p.A12)

1999        Apr 23, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic ruled out allowing armed foreign soldiers to enforce a peace agreement in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 4/24/99, p.A12)

1999        Apr 26, Pres. Milosevic met with Red Cross Pres. Cornelio Sommuraga and said the Red Cross may return to Kosovo and "go anywhere." Sommuraga met briefly with the 3 captive Americans and said they were ok.
    (SFC, 4/27/99, p.A1,6)

1999        Apr 30, NATO undertook over 600 sorties and strikes in Montenegro and Kosovo reportedly killed 13 people.
    (SFC, 5/1/99, p.A1)

1999        May 1, A NATO strike on a bridge in Kosovo, 12 miles north of Pristina, hit a civilian bus and killed between 34 and 60 people including 15 children.
    (SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A17)   

1999        May 3, Pres. Clinton said that he would support a bombing pause if he was convinced that the Yugoslav crackdown on Kosovo guerrillas and civilians was ending and that Serbian forces were being withdrawn.
    (SFC, 5/4/99, p.A1)

1999        May 5, Western allies and Russia outlined an accord for "an international civil and security presence" in Kosovo under a UN mandate following the withdrawal of Serbian forces.
    (SFC, 5/6/99, p.A1)
1999        May 5, NATO strategists were reported to have a plan to send 60,000 ground troops into Kosovo around July to take the province from retreating Serbs. Their original plan called for 28,000 soldiers to supervise an interim peace settlement.
    (WSJ, 5/5/99, p.A3)(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A12)

1999        May 6, Russia joined NATO to back a framework for ending the conflict in Kosovo that included an international security presence to enforce peace.
    (SFC, 5/7/99, p.A1)

1999        May 9, NATO struck artillery and mortar positions along with armored vehicles and Serbian troops in Kosovo.
    (SFC, 5/10/99, p.A8)
1999        May 9, Rexhep Emerllahu (27), an ethnic Albanian, was killed in Gnjilane, Kosovo. In 2000 Milos Jokic (21), a Serb student, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the killing of Emerllahu and for ordering the killing of another Albanian and raping an Albanian woman.
    (SFC, 9/21/00, p.C4)

1999        May 10, The Yugoslav army announced that it had completed its operations against the KLA and had begun a partial withdrawal from Kosovo.
    (SFC, 5/11/99, p.A1)
1999        May 10, A US State Dept. report, "Erasing History: Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo," based on refugee accounts suggested that Serbian forces had killed over 4,000 Kosovars.
    (SFC, 5/11/99, p.A10)
1999        May 10, In Belgrade the government claimed that the refugees coming out of Kosovo in the 1st ten days of the war were 3000-4000 ethnic Albanians paid by the US and NATO to march in a circle from Macedonia to Albania and Montenegro and back to Kosovo. Belgrade also opened a legal offensive and asked the World Court to stop NATO air attacks.
    (SFC, 5/11/99, p.A10)

1999        May 13, NATO bombs struck a group of some 500 refugees in Korisa (Kosovo) and at least 79 people were killed. Some 700 hundreds refugees had been locked up by the Serbs inside the grounds of a warehouse in Korisa.
    (SFC, 5/15/99, p.A1)(SFC, 5/31/99, p.A8)

1999        May 14, In Kosovo paramilitary fighters looted homes and killed 41 ethnic Albanian civilians in the village of Cuska. In 2002 Fred Abrahams and Eric Stover authored “A Village Destroyed, May 14, 1999: War Crimes in Kosovo.” In 2010 9 men, suspected in the killings in Cuska, were detained and indicted by Serbian police.
    (AP, 3/13/10)(www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9685.php)(Reuters, 9/11/10)

1999        Jun 26, In southern Serbia 3 Albanian-American brothers Illy, Mehmet and Agron Bytyqi, strayed outside of Kosovo's unmarked boundary and were arrested. They spent 15 days in a Serb jail for illegally crossing the border. Upon their release they were taken by two Serb policemen to a training camp in eastern Serbia, where they were summarily executed. In 2001 their bodies were found bound and blindfolded in a trash-filled mass grave near the training camp’s fence. They had left their New York pizza business in 1999 to join Kosovo rebels fighting for secession from Serbia. In 2009 a Serbian war crimes court acquitted two former Serb policemen of collaborating in the execution-style slaying. 
    (AP, 6/11/09)(AP, 9/22/09)

1999        Hashim Thaci, later prime minister of Kosovo, led a group of guerrillas. In 2010 they were accused of killing Serb and other prisoners in Albania for their kidneys. Thaci was also accused of being involved in the region’s heroin trade.
    (Econ, 12/18/10, p.100)
1999        NATO acknowledged in 2000 that depleted uranium rounds were used during the 1999 Kosovo war whenever American A-10 ground attack aircraft engaged armored vehicles.
    (SFC, 3/22/00, p.A14)
1999        In 2008 Carla Del Ponte, former chief prosecutor at The Hague, alleged in a book that some 100-300 Kosovo Serbs were kidnapped this year and taken to Albania to have their organs harvested. UN investigators found no substantial evidence to support claims that ethnic Albanian guerrillas killed dozens of Serbs in Kosovo and sold their organs.
    (WSJ, 4/12/08, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/14/08, p.A13)(AP, 4/16/08)
1999        The corn borer moth, native to Central and North America, first appeared in Europe in Kosovo. Since then it spread in concentric circles and by 2011 was eating maize crops in Germany and Italy.
    (Econ, 2/26/11, SR p.10)

2000        Jan 7, In Kosovo 2 Serbian women were killed by an ethnic Albanian gang in Prizren. Attacks in the last 2 days had left 4 Serb men wounded and 1 dead.
    (SFC, 1/8/00, p.A10)

2000        Jan 13, Serbian authorities charged 144 jailed ethnic Albanians with terrorism in Kosovo during 1999.
    (SFC, 1/14/00, p.D2)
2000        Jan 13, In Vitina, Kosovo, Merita Shabiu, an 11-year-old Albanian girl, was raped and murdered. On Jan 16 American soldier, Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi (35), was charged for the rape and murder. Ronghi later confessed and was sentenced to life in prison.
    (SFC, 1/17/00, p.A10)(WSJ, 1/17/00, p.A1)(SFC, 1/24/00, p.A9)(SFC, 8/2/00, p.A14)

2000        Jan 16, In Kosovo an American soldier, Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi (35), was charged with the rape and murder of an 11-year-old Albanian girl.
    (SFC, 1/17/00, p.A10)(WSJ, 1/17/00, p.A1)

2000        Jan 26, In Serbia police killed 2 ethnic Albanian brothers on the southern border known as Eastern Kosovo.
    (SFEC, 3/5/00, p.A25)

2000        Feb 2, In Kosovo a rocket attack on a NATO escorted bus filled with Serb civilians killed 2 villagers and wounded 3.
    (SFC, 2/3/00, p.A12)(WSJ, 2/3/00, p.A1)

2000        Feb 3, In Kosovo violence broke out in Mitrovica with 2 grenade attacks that left 20 people wounded and shootings that left 3 ethnic Albanians dead. The number of deaths were later increased to 7.
    (SFC, 2/4/00, p.D5)(SFEC, 2/6/00, p.A26)

2000        Feb 5, In Kosovo 41 people, including 11 French soldiers, were injured in during a 2nd day of clashes between peacekeepers and Albanians.
    (SFEC, 2/6/00, p.A26)

2000        Feb 13, In Kosovo snipers wounded 2 French peacekeepers who responded by later killing an ethnic Albanian and wounding at least 4 others. Serbs had earlier thrown a grenade into a crowd of ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica.
    (SFC, 2/14/00, p.A12)

2000        Feb 20, In Mitrovica, Kosovo, angry Serbs pelted US troops in the northern district during a citywide search for weapons.
    (SFC, 2/21/00, p.A10)

2000        Feb 21, In Mitrovica, Kosovo, some 10-25,000 ethnic Albanians clashed with NATO-led troops, who kept them from crossing to the Serb section of town.
    (SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)(WSJ, 2/22/00, p.A1)

2000        Feb 27, In Serbia growing numbers of Albanians had fled the southern towns of Presevo, Bujanova and Medveda and crossed over to Kosovo as Yugoslav police conducted aggressive searches for Albanian separatists. Belgrade believed that the 480-sq. mile region planned to break away to join Kosovo.
    (SFC, 2/28/00, p.A10)

2000        Mar 2, In Kosovo French peacekeepers forced their way through Serb protestors to return 41 Albanians to their homes across the Ibar River.
    (SFC, 3/4/00, p.A10)

2000        Mar 7, In Kosovo 24 civilians and 16 French peacekeepers were wounded in a street battle that escalated from a fight between a Serb and Albanian in Mitrovica.
    (WSJ, 3/8/00, p.A1)

2000        Mar 15, In Kosovo US troops raided 5 locations in southeastern Kosovo and seized large quantities of arms and ammunition from militant Albanians.
    (SFC, 3/16/00, p.A16)

2000        Mar 21, NATO acknowledged that depleted uranium rounds were used during the 1999 Kosovo war whenever American A-10 ground attack aircraft engaged armored vehicles.
    (SFC, 3/22/00, p.A14)

2000        May 22, In Yugoslavia a Serbian court convicted 143 ethnic Albanians from Djakovica, Kosovo, on terrorism charges for attacks against Serbian police during 1999 NATO bombings.
    (SFC, 5/23/00, p.A14)

2000        May 28, In Kosovo, Yugoslavia, an attacker shot and killed a 4-year-old Serb boy and 2 men in Cermica.
    (SFC, 5/30/00, p.A14)

2000        Jun 1, In Kosovo Albanians killed a woman and wounded 3 men when they opened fire on a group of Serbs in the US zone.
    (WSJ, 6/2/00, p.A1)

2000        Jun 2, In Kosovo 2 Serb villagers were killed when their vehicle drove over a land mine near Pristina. A mother and her 2 children were injured.
    (SFC, 6/3/00, p.A12)

2000        Jun 15, In Kosovo 2 Serbs were killed and another wounded when their vehicle ran over a land mine. NATO peacekeepers raided an ethnic Albanian stronghold in Drenica and seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition. Halil Dreshaj, a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo, was shot and killed by masked men wearing uniforms of the disbanded KLA.
    (SFC, 6/15/00, p.A19)(SFC, 6/17/00, p.A10)

2000        Jul 10, In Kosovo an Albanian boy (5) was killed when an American soldier’s rifle discharged accidentally.
    (SFC, 7/11/00, p.A14)

2000        Aug 1, A US military court in Germany sentenced Army Staff Sergeant Frank Ronghi to life in prison without parole for sexually assaulting and killing Merita Shabiu, an eleven-year-old ethnic Albanian girl, while on peacekeeping duty in Kosovo.
    (AP, 8/1/01)

2000        Aug 1, Two Britons and 2 Canadians were arrested in northern Montenegro while driving to Kosovo on suspicion of spying and terrorism.
    (SFC, 8/8/00, p.A12)

2000        Aug 14, NATO peacekeepers shut down the Serb-run Trepca smelter at Zvecan, Kosovo, due to environmental pollution.
    (SFC, 8/15/00, p.A12)

2000        Oct 23, The Int’l. Commission on Kosovo recommended that Kosovo become a separate state when the safety of its minorities can be guaranteed.
    (SFC, 10/24/00, p.A16)

2000        Oct 28, In Kosovo municipal elections were held. Ibrahim Rugova declared victory for his League for a Democratic Kosovo and won 21 of 27 contested municipalities.
    (SFEC, 10/29/00, p.A17)(SFC, 10/29/00, p.A1)(SFC, 10/31/00, p.A14)

2000        Nov 9, In Kosovo 4 Gypsies were killed in an ambush.
    (WSJ, 11/10/00, p.A1)

2000        Nov 22, In Serbia ethnic Albanians were blamed for police assaults in the Presevo Valley and 4 officers were reported killed over 2 days as rebel fighters moved in from Kosovo.
    (SFC, 11/23/00, p.D8)

2000        Nov 23, In Kosovo Xhemail Mustafa (46), pacifist advisor to Ibrahim Rugova, was shot dead by 2 gunmen in Pristina.
    (SFC, 11/24/00, p.A20)

2000        Nov 24, In Serbia police gave NATO a 72-hour deadline to stop incursions from Kosovo by ethnic Albanian militants.
    (SFC, 11/25/00, p.A15)

2008        Feb 17, Kosovo declared itself a nation, mounting a historic bid to become an "independent and democratic state" backed by the US and key European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia. Kosovo’s parliament approved a new flag, a blue background with a yellow map of the Connecticut-sized province. Russia denounced Kosovo's independence declaration and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, underlining its opposition.
    (AP, 2/17/08)(SFC, 2/18/08, p.A13)

2008        Feb 18, Kosovo's leaders sent letters to 192 countries seeking formal recognition of independence, and suspense gripped the province as its citizens awaited key backing from the US and key European powers.
    (AP, 2/18/08)
2008        Feb 18, President Bush hailed Kosovo's bold and historic bid for statehood, saying "The Kosovars are now independent."
    (AP, 2/18/08)

2008        Feb 19, Serbs set off sporadic explosions and torched checkpoints between Serbia and Kosovo to protest Kosovo's declaration of independence and international recognition of the new nation.
    (AP, 2/19/08)

2008        Feb 21, In Serbia protesters, outraged at US support for Kosovo, stormed the US Embassy in Belgrade and set part of it on fire. Zoran Vujovic (21) died in the fire and 150 people were injured. Police arrested almost 200 rioters involved in the protests.
    (SSFC, 2/24/08, p.A4)(WSJ, 2/25/08, p.A1)

2008        Feb 22, Serbs protesting Kosovo's independence for a fifth straight day Friday attacked UN police guarding a key bridge in northern Kosovo with stones, glass bottles and firecrackers.
    (AP, 2/22/08)

2008        Feb 23, In northern Kosovo up to 2,000 Serb protesters chanting "Kosovo is Serbia!" marched through Kosovska Mitrovica, an ethnically divided town, in a sixth day of demonstrations against Kosovo's declaration of independence.
    (AP, 2/23/08)(SFC, 2/23/08, p.A3)

2008        Feb 25, Up to 2,000 Serb protesters rallied against Kosovo's independence in the new nation's tense north, a few setting fire to EU flags in what has become a daily challenge following the country's secession from Serbia.
    (AP, 2/25/08)

2008        Feb 29, Hundreds of Serb police in Kosovo vowed not to follow the orders of the Albanian-dominated force after the territory split from Serbia.
    (AP, 2/29/08)

2008        Mar 11, Serbia and Russia demanded that the UN administration in Kosovo halt the transfer of authority to the European Union, calling a handover illegal and declaring they will never recognize the independence of the Serb province.
    (AP, 3/12/08)

2008        Mar 14, Hundreds of Serbs stormed a UN courthouse in northern Kosovo, took control of the site, and raised a Serbian flag.
    (WSJ, 3/15/08, p.A1)

2008        Mar 17, UN forces pulling Serb demonstrators from a UN courthouse were attacked by hundreds of furious protesters who massed outside, setting off an hours-long battle with rocks, grenades and live ammunition. One UN policeman was killed.
    (AP, 3/17/08)(WSJ, 3/19/08, p.A1)

2008        Mar 18, Canada formally recognized the breakaway republic of Kosovo, a decision Serbia said was a major mistake that could encourage separatists in the province of Quebec.
    (Reuters, 3/18/08)

2008        Mar 19, Kosovo independence was recognized by Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary.
    (WSJ, 3/20/08, p.A1)

2008        Mar 22, The population of Kosovo was about 2 million, with about 90% ethnic Albanian.
    (Econ, 3/22/08, p.60)

2008        Mar 23, Serbian PM Vojislav Kostunica accused NATO peacekeepers and UN police of using "snipers and banned ammunition" to quell a Serb riot against Kosovo's independence.
    (AP, 3/23/08)

2008        Apr 2, Russia's foreign minister said that Moscow will not allow newly independent Kosovo to become a member of the UN.
    (AP, 4/2/08)

2008        Apr 3, The UN tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict former Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj of murder, torture and rape of Serbs and non-Albanians during the Kosovo war.
    (AP, 4/4/08)

2008        Apr 7, Kosovo’s leaders signed the country’s new Constitution.
    (SFC, 4/8/08, p.A3)

2008        May 11, A divided Serbia voted in parliamentary a election that gave its people the stark choice of entering or rebuffing the EU after the trauma of losing Kosovo. Voting went ahead in Kosovo despite opposition from the UN and Kosovo Albanians, who see the polls as an illegal attempt by Serbia to partition the breakaway territory.
    (AP, 5/11/08)

2008        Jun 12, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Kosovo's leaders he intends to reshape the UN mission there to allow the EU to take on key tasks, according to a letter in the letter to Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu. Russia demanded disciplinary action against the head of the UN mission in Kosovo for preparing to hand over powers to a EU mission that Moscow says is illegal.
    (Reuters, 6/12/08)

2008        Jun 15, Kosovo's government took control of the newly independent nation as the country's constitution went into force after nine years of UN administration.
    (AP, 6/15/08)

2008        Jul 11, International donors pledged more than half of the euro1.5 billion ($2.36 billion) in aid requested by Kosovo to build up its infrastructure and democratic institutions.
    (AP, 7/11/08)

2008        Oct 9, Montenegro and Macedonia recognized Kosovo's independence, despite opposition from Serbia, which called the moves by its Balkan neighbors a betrayal and expelled the Montenegrin ambassador from Belgrade.
    (AP, 10/9/08)

2008        Oct 30, A Swiss court convicted 2 brothers from Kosovo of running a massive drug smuggling ring that prosecutors said supplied Western Europe with up to half of its heroin. Ragip and Kemal Shabani channeled 1.5 tons of heroin through Europe from the mid-1990s until 2003, when they were shut down.
    (AP, 10/30/08)

2008        Nov 1, Malaysia defended its recognition of Kosovo as an independent state, a move that caused Serbia to expel the Southeast Asian nation's ambassador.
    (AP, 11/1/08)

2008        Nov 26, The UN Security Council approved the deployment of a European Union mission throughout Kosovo under the UN umbrella.
    (AP, 11/26/08)

2008        Dec 23, Kosovo threatened to ban products coming from Serbia if Belgrade does not reverse its policy of blocking goods that carry a customs stamp from its former province.
    (AP, 12/23/08)

2008        Dec 26, Serbia arrested 10 former Kosovo Albanian guerrilla fighters suspected of involvement in killings and abductions in the former Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999.
    (AP, 12/26/08)

2009        Jan 21, Kosovo armed forces took over security duties, less than a year after the territory declared independence and in the face of strong protests from Serbia.
    (AP, 1/21/09)

2009        Feb 17, Kosovo celebrated the first anniversary of its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia. Thus far it was recognized by only 54 of the UN’s 192 countries. Five of the EU’s 27 countries so far refused recognition.
    (Econ, 2/14/09, p.16)

2009        Apr 27, In Kosovo Serbs protesting the building of homes for ethnic Albanians in northern Kosovo threw two hand grenades and fired gunshots at European Union police officers, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades to drive the crowd away.
    (AP, 4/27/09)

2009        Jun 23, Bulgarian authorities detained  Agim Ceku (59), a former Kosovo prime minister (2006-2008), on an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol at Serbia's request. He is wanted for war crimes allegedly committed during the 1998-1999 war when he was military chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army, made up of ethnic Albanian guerrillas.
    (AP, 6/24/09)

2009        Jun 26, Serbian prosecutors filed war crimes charges against 17 former Kosovo guerrillas for the alleged murder, rape and torture of Serb civilians. The suspects were charged in connection with the kidnapping of 159 Serbs and the deaths of at least 51 of them in the eastern Kosovo town of Gnjilane in the wake of Kosovo's 1998-99 war.
    (AP, 6/26/09)

2009        Jun 29, Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, became the 186th member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The ceremony was held in Washington, DC, because the US government is the repository for the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement that created the post-World War II international financial system.
    (AP, 6/30/09)

2009        Sep 23, Four Serbs were arrested in Novo Brdo, Kosovo, 20 miles east of Pristina, under suspicion of committing war crimes against Albanian civilians during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war.
    (SFC, 9/24/09, p.A2)

2009        Oct 16, Kosovo's authorities said they have demarcated a disputed border with Macedonia, a scene of tensions in the past.
    (AP, 10/16/09)

2009        Nov 1, In Kosovo thousands of ethnic Albanians braved low temperatures and a cold wind in the capital Pristina to welcome former President Bill Clinton as he attended the unveiling of an 11-foot (3.5-meter) statue of himself on a key boulevard that also bears his name.
    (AP, 11/1/09)

2009        Nov 15, Kosovo held its first elections since independence from Serbia, with some minority Serbs ignoring a call to boycott and casting ballots alongside ethnic Albanians. The voting ended peacefully, with the prime minister claiming his party won convincingly.
    (AP, 11/15/09)

2009        Dec 1, Kosovo told the UN's highest court that its independence is irreversible and warned that any attempt to cancel it could set off a renewed conflict.
    (AP, 12/1/09)

2010        Mar 7, NATO said it is suspending the training of Kosovo's security troops after a military-style parade that broke the force's agreement to focus only on civil emergencies. An armed honor guard had appeared at a parade on March 5 marking the 12th anniversary of the killing of the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
    (AP, 3/7/10)

2010        Mar 12, Serbian police detained nine former paramilitary fighters suspected of killing civilians and looting homes during the Kosovo war. The nine were accused of killing 41 ethnic Albanian civilians in the village of Cuska in May 1999.
    (AP, 3/13/10)

2010        May 10, Serbian war crimes prosecutors said a mass grave has been discovered in Serbia believed to contain the bodies of 250 ethnic Albanians who were killed in Kosovo during the 1998-99 Serbian crackdown on separatists.
    (AP, 5/10/10)(SFC, 5/11/10, p.A2)

2010        May 30, In Kosovo riot police used tear gas and pepper spray to separate hundreds of ethnic Albanian protesters and Serbs voting in local Serbian elections in the tensely divided town of Mitrovica.
    (AP, 5/30/10)

2010        Jun 17, In Kosovo Bajram Asllani (29) of Mitrovica was arrested and accused of being part of a terrorism plot that originated in North Carolina among people who planned attacks both at a US military installation and abroad.
    (AP, 6/17/10)

2010        Jul 2, In Kosovo an explosion tore through a Serb protest in Mitrovica fatally injuring one man and leaving 11 others with shrapnel wounds.
    (SFC, 7/2/10, p.A2)

2010        Jul 5, In Kosovo a gunman wounded legislator Petar Miletic (35), a Serb member of Kosovo’s parliament, as he walked out of his home in Mitrovica.
    (SFC, 7/6/10, p.A2)

2010        Jul 21, The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal ruled that Kosovo's former prime minister must be retried on murder and torture charges related to the country's 1998-99 war with Serbia, calling his acquittal two years ago "a miscarriage of justice." Tribunal President Patrick Robinson said the original trial for Ramush Haradinaj and two former Kosovo Liberation Army comrades was marred by intimidation that left two prosecution witnesses too scared to testify.
    (AP, 7/21/10)

2010        Jul 22, The UN's highest court said that Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 did not break international law.
    (AP, 7/22/10)

2010        Jul 23, EU police investigating corruption arrested Hashim Rexhepi, Kosovo’s central bank governor.
    (www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4b5155da-9666-11df-96a2-00144feab49a.html)
 
2010        Jul 27, Serb lawmakers passed a resolution vowing that their country will never recognize Kosovo as an independent state, despite a UN court ruling backing the independence declaration by the former Serbian province.
    (AP, 7/27/10)

2010        Sep 12, In Kosovo a French Gendarme was shot and wounded during clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica as European Union police fired tear gas to disperse the violent crowd.
    (AP, 9/12/10)

2010        Oct 3, Thousands of Serb pilgrims gathered in a medieval monastery in western Kosovo amid tight security to attend the enthronement ceremony of the new Serbian Patriarch Irinej.
    (AP, 10/3/10)

2010        Oct 26, Authorities in Bosnia and Serbia said they had recovered the skeletal remains of at least 97 people from the banks of a border lake that was partially drained this summer for maintenance. Most were killed by Serbs in the nearby town of Visegrad at the start of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. But on the Serbian side experts found the remains of what they presume to be 11 Albanians killed during the Kosovo war in 1998-1999.
    (AP, 10/26/10)

2010        Nov 11, An EU indictment revealed that at least 9 people, including former Kosovo senior health ministry official Ilir Rrecaj, were suspected of involvement in an international network that falsely promised poor people payment for their kidneys and then sold the organs for as much as euro100,000 ($137,000). Five Kosovo nationals, Turkish doctor Yusuf Sonmez and Moshe Harel, an Israeli citizen, were listed as wanted by Interpol.
    (AP, 11/12/10)(SFC, 11/13/10, p.A2)

2010        Dec 12, Kosovars voted in the first general poll since the country's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, a critical election already marred by ethnic tension that many fear will split the world's newest country. Incumbent PM Hashim Thaci claimed victory with 31% of the vote. The Democratic League of Kosovo trailed at 25%,
    (AP, 12/12/10)(SFC, 12/13/10, p.A2)

2010        Dec 20, Serbia urged international authorities to investigate allegations of a trade in the kidneys and other organs of civilians slain in the aftermath of Kosovo's 1999 war for secession.
    (AP, 12/20/10)

2010        Dec 22, Albania invited an international investigation into claims it was linked with the trafficking of organs from slain civilians during the war in neighboring Kosovo.
    (AP, 12/22/10)

2010        Kosovo’s population was about 2 million.
    (SFC, 10/27/10, p.A2)

2011        Feb 23, The UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in the Hague sentenced Vlastimir Djordjevic (62) to 27 years in prison after pronouncing him guilty of murdering at least 724 Kosovo Albanians, as well as committing inhumane acts, persecution and deportations.
    (AP, 2/23/11)

2011        Mar 2, In Germany a gunman shot dead 2 US airmen at Frankfurt airport. The gunman was identified as Arid Uka (21), a Kosovo national who was working on a short-term contract at the Frankfurt international postal center. The airmen were later identified as Senior Airman Nick Alden (25) of South Carolina and Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback (21) of Virginia.
    (AP, 3/2/11)(Reuters, 3/3/11)(AP, 3/10/11)

2011        Mar 16, A senior Kosovo politician and former rebel leader was indicted by an EU prosecutor for allegedly executing and torturing Serb prisoners of war during the 1998-99 war. Fatmir Limaj, a top former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, was among 11 former rebels named in the indictment.
    (AP, 3/16/11)

2011        Mar 30, Kosovo's Constitutional Court said that the newly elected multimillionaire businessman Behgjet Pacolli must step down from his post as president because his election violated the country's constitution. Pacolli said he would abide by the court's decision.
    (AP, 3/30/11)

2011        Apr 7, Kosovo’s parliament elected Atifete Jahjaga (35) as its first woman president.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atifete_Jahjaga)

2011        Jul 2, Kosovo and Serbia agreed to a deal on recognizing car license plates, identity cards and university diplomas.
    (Econ, 7/9/11, p.50)

2011        Jul 25, Kosovo’s government sent special police units to the Serb-inhabited north to seize two border points which had been beyond its control since independence.
    (Econ, 8/6/11, p.43)

2011        Jul 26, Kosovo's special police forces, that moved into the country's disputed north overnight to extend the government's writ at borders with Serbia, will withdraw as part of a deal between Kosovo and Serbia and mediated by NATO.
    (AP, 7/26/11)

2011        Jul 27, In Kosovo some 200 Serbs attacked police outposts on the border with Serbia, setting one of them on fire and killing Kosovo policeman Enver Zymberi. As the masked Serbs attacked, European Union police on the scene leaped into their cars and fled the area. In late August EU special police launched an operation related to a criminal investigation of the attack.
    (AP, 7/28/11)(AP, 8/31/11)

2011        Jul 28, In Kosovo American and French peacekeepers under NATO took control of two customs posts on the northern border with Serbia after they were attacked by Serbs armed with firebombs.
    (AP, 7/28/11)

2011        Jul 29, NATO forces in Kosovo withdrew from a barricade put up by hundreds of Serbs on Friday to avoid confrontation with Serb extremists blocking the peacekeepers from reaching a base in the Serb-run north.
    (AP, 7/29/11)

2011        Jul 31, Serbia's parliament, after a heated 10-hour debate, passed a resolution calling for a peaceful resolution of the nation's worst crisis with Kosovo since the province declared independence three years go.
    (AP, 7/31/11)

2011        Aug 1, NATO sent reserve forces to Kosovo and removed roadblocks put up by Serbs in Kosovo's north, but barricades still remain following a week of violence that left one Kosovo policeman dead.
    (AP, 8/1/11)(AP, 8/2/11)

2011        Sep 16, The EU said helicopters are being used to ferry staff and supplies to border crossings in the north after minority Serbs blocked main roads in anger over Kosovo's efforts to take over customs posts. Both northern crossings remained closed for commercial goods, but Kosovo's trade minister Mimoza Kusari said Serbian goods started entering Kosovo's eastern border with Serbia minutes after the EU mission took over control.
    (AP, 9/16/11)

2011        Sep 27, NATO troops shot at Serb protesters after the military alliance's troops were attacked near Kosovo's border with Serbia.
    (AP, 9/27/11)

2011        Oct 11, Kosovo's foreign minister said Kuwait has recognized Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia.
    (AP, 10/11/11)

2011        Oct 12, Serbia received European Union notice for recommendation to become an official EU candidate. The recommendation must formally be approved by the EU's Council of Ministers on Dec 9. A date to begin formal accession talks depended on the country and neighboring Kosovo to improve relations.
    (AP, 10/12/11)(AP, 10/15/11)

2011        Oct 19, Kosovo Serb leaders, defying a NATO warning, refused to unconditionally lift their roadblocks in the north of the country. A day earlier the 5,500-strong NATO-led force in Kosovo, known as KFOR, said it will take unspecified "resolute" action if the Serbs fail to lift the blockade.
    (AP, 10/19/11)

2011        Oct 20, Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeepers confronted crowds of angry Serbs as they tried to remove Serb roadblocks in the volatile north of the country.
    (AP, 10/20/11)

2011        Oct 22, NATO-led peacekeepers tried to remove roadblocks in northern Kosovo, but were prevented by Serbs guarding the blockade that has paralyzed travel in the tense region.
    (AP, 10/22/11)

2011        Nov 11, Senior Kosovo politician Fatmir Limaj, a former ethnic Albanian rebel commander, and eight other defendants went on trial for allegedly torturing and executing Serb prisoners during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
    (AP, 11/11/11)

2011        Nov 28, A German NATO officer and a soldier were shot and wounded in a clash with Serb protesters in northern Kosovo after the military alliance's troops used heavy machinery to remove trucks and buses blocking a main road in the tense region.
    (AP, 11/28/11)

2011        Dec 2, Kosovo and Serbia agreed on normalizing border procedures, one of the thorniest issues in current talks between the two rivals. An EU statement said, "The parties will gradually set up the joint, integrated, single and secure posts at all their common crossing points."
    (AP, 12/3/11)

2011        Dec 13, A convoy of 25 Russian trucks was stopped by US soldiers guarding the Kosovo border with Serbia, increasing tensions in the volatile region. Peacekeepers said the convoy's cargo consisting of canned food, blankets, tents and power generators looked to be intended for those manning the roadblocks, and not for the general Kosovo Serb population. EU officials in Kosovo said the Russians can pass if they allow an international police escort. Three EU police vehicles escorted the convoy on Dec 16 after taking a roundabout way through Serbia to bypass roadblocks.
    (AP, 12/14/11)(AP, 12/17/11)

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