February 6, 1999, marked the beginning of the Rambouillet Conference near Paris, aimed at resolving the Kosovo crisis.
The conference, which lasted until February 23, was initiated by the Contact Group, with mediators including Christopher Hill (USA), Boris Maiorsky (Russia), and Wolfgang Petritsch (EU).
The Kosovo delegation had initially accepted the proposed agreement put forward by the Contact Group. While the Serbian delegation also gave a conditional acceptance, they firmly opposed allowing NATO forces to pass through Serbia and insisted that any international forces in Kosovo should operate under the United Nations.
Failed Negotiations and NATO Intervention
A second round of negotiations, beginning on March 15 in Paris, also ended without success. On March 18, both delegations signed different agreements. The Kosovo delegation signed the international proposal, while the Serbian side signed a political agreement on Kosovo’s self-governance.
The final attempt by U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke on March 22, 1999, to persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević to accept the agreement and allow international forces in Kosovo also failed.
On March 24, 1999, NATO launched airstrikes against Serbian military and paramilitary forces. The bombing campaign ended on June 6, 1999, with the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement, which mandated the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from Kosovo and the deployment of international peacekeeping forces.
Kosovo’s Path to Independence
Following the withdrawal, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1244, establishing an international presence in Kosovo, including the UNMIK civil mission and the KFOR military mission.
Finally, on February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence.
