Blood on the Hands of Innocents  

“They tied our hands and told us to leave. We ran, and fell in a hole. They fired at us, and we didn’t move so that they would think that we were dead.” These were the words of a girl of only eleven years old and fearing for her life. The 1999 war in Kosovo remains a dire lesson of the effects of ethno-nationalism on a grand scale. Two parties, vying for control of a territory roughly the size of Jamaica, became embroiled in a war marked by bloodshed and ethnic cleansing. The war showcases how historical grievances continue to shape tensions to this day.

The Historical Connections

Anton Bebler, professor of Political Science and Defense at the University of Ljubljana, discusses how the Serbian Orthodox Church has a long and storied connection to Kosovo. In the 13th century, the Church moved to the Patriarchate of Peć in what is today Kosovo, resulting in a deep and profound connection to the land. Moreover, the 1389 Battle of Kosovo plays an enormous historical and identity-building role for Serbs today. It was this battle in which an expansive Ottoman Empire was fought off. As the name suggests, it took place in the historical region of Kosovo, leading to a lasting place in the memory of Serbs to this day. In the centuries that followed, dispute over land, interests, and conflictual attitudes hardened between Serbia and Albania. According to Bebler, the Serbs’ historical claim to Kosovo is a result of three main identities: “The Serbian government claimed that its right to occupy Kosovo was justified (1) by the Serbs’ superior level of civilization compared with that of the Albanians, (2) by the Serbian state’s historic possession of the province in the 13th-15th centuries and (3) by the numerical majority enjoyed then by the Serbs’ Slavic ancestors.” Through these motivations, Serbia would wage a war that would forever be etched in history.

A War Unfiltered  

The analysis by the US State Department, Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo: An Accounting illustrates that, while brief, the Kosovo war was devastating. Lasting roughly a year, the reports show that a total of 10,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed. Beginning on 28th February 1998 and lasting until 11th June 1999, the war deeply impacted individuals both on a physical and mental level. ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte  spoke to the UN Security Council in 1999, stating that their “office had received reports of more than 11,000 killed in 529 reported mass grave and killing sites in Kosovo.” A war based on territorial claims quickly transformed into an example of ethnic cleansing on a mass scale. The belief of the “Serbs [in their] superior level of civilization compared with that of the Albanians” is a stark reminder of ethnocentrism and the weight it holds, according to Del Ponte.

Scared Memories

From March 1999, forces of the Yugoslav army ravaged the region, burning some 1,200 residential areas, 500 of which were villages. Actions such as these were just the tip of the iceberg. In some cases, the Serbian military would intentionally place Kosovar Albanian men near areas believed to be targets of NATO strikes. A team of the US media outlet PBS entered Kosovo after the war to conduct interviews and understand the plight of those who survived. One of their interviewees was the aforementioned girl of eleven years, who survived the massacre at Precaz. It was at this site that the Serb forces killed over 50 people in an attempt to eliminate a group of Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders. Those victims included her father and uncle. The girl recounted: “No, we couldn’t sleep when we heard the shooting, we were just staying there and didn’t make any noise. The second day we heard the tanks. The third day they shot at us and killed my uncle.” Another interviewee in the PBS report, interviewee S. was a 45-year-old survivor of the January 1999 massacre at Racak who experienced a similar reality to that of the 11-year-old girl. He was ordered to line up with 22 other men. With hands tied behind their backs, they were ordered to run, only to end up in a hole before they were all shot. His later remarks are an eerie reminder of the long-lasting scars of this harrowing event. “One thing we know. We don’t want to see any Serb here. They killed, massacred, raped our children I can’t imagine living with them anymore.”  

More than a Memory

Twenty-six years later, Kosovo continues to grapple with an unresolved conflict after it declared independence on 17th February 2008. As of today, over 120 countries, including the US, France, and Germany, recognize it. However, Serbia, Russia, Spain, China, and 68 other countries continue to not recognize Kosovon Kosovo and Serbia continue to live on a knife-edge, where outbreaks of violence are frequent modes of expression The license plate dispute of 2021-2022 is a prime example of the continual memory of historical grievances. In September of 2021, Kosovo’s government began requiring ethnic Serbs entering Kosovo to temporarily replace Serbian-issued license plates with Republic of Kosovo (RKS) ones. For Kosovo, this was seen as a form of reciprocity, given that Serbia had long required this of Kosovars entering Serbia. For Serbia, this was seen as a direct attempt by Kosovo to strengthen its claim of sovereignty. The result was that many ethnic Serbs were blocking roads near border crossings in Northern Kosovo, with Serbia raising military readiness near the border. In response, Kosovo sent special forces to keep the border open. Ultimately, NATO’s Kosovo force and EU officials became involved diplomatically to smooth things over. In the end, the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia is one of many that highlight how historical grievances continue to shape world politics for decades after a war had formally ended.