DIPLOMACIAIMPONUESE E NATO-S NË KOSOVË
NATO-S IMPOSING DIPLOMACY IN KOSOVO

Summary/Abstract: The NATO air strikes against ex-Yugoslavia, more specifically against Serbia for the liberation of Kosovo, have raised in the political and academic discourse a debate which still continues nowadays. For the first time after WWII, in the spring of 1999 NATO undertook a military attack against a sovereign state without the approval of the United Nations Security Council. Was this a violation of the international right? Did the political-military Euro- Atlantic alliance have the right to intervene with its army to prevent a human catastrophe and to end the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo? Why did NATO act without the mandate of the Council of Security? What made the critics of the war of Kosovo oppose the air strikes? The focus of this paper is to answer these questions and to clarify the mist surrounding the issue of the military operations’ legitimacy against ex-Yugoslavia (Serbia). In this paper I will argue in favor of the legitimacy of the NATO military attacks for the liberation of Kosovo. The previous Security Council resolutions had already emphasized that the conflict in Kosovo threatens peace in the region and in Europe, and that the refugee crises risks causing a humanitarian catastrophe. As long as these issues were recognized, the military operations had gained the support of the UN Charter in which it is foreseen the possible intervention in the two above mentioned cases. However, it was simply a lack of political will from the Security Council’s members caused by the use of veto from Russia. Diplomacy had already used all the means at its disposal to avoid the conflict in Kosovo, the only option left to resolve the issue was war. The 1244 resolution of the Security Council of 10 June 1999 put Kosovo under international administration and at the same time legitimated the air strikes against ex-Yugoslavia (Serbia). Meanwhile the later developments, namely the independence of Kosovo, brought incredible stability, peace and security to the region. If one compares the region’s security before the intervention and after it, you have an additional argument for the legitimacy of the military intervention in Kosovo.

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