DETERMINED FORCE

The context is that of the Yugoslav Wars, which broke out with the dissolution of the communist federation. On October 13, the North Atlantic Council authorized “limited aerial bombardments” on Yugoslavia if the Yugoslav authorities continued to ignore UN Resolution 1199. The bombardments were to begin no sooner than 96 hours after the activation order, to allow Ambassador Holbrooke and President Milosevic to negotiate an agreement. On October 14, STANAVFORMED (Permanent Naval Force of the Mediterranean) was also deployed in the Adriatic Sea. As the deadline approached, it became clear that Yugoslavia was unable to meet the requests: for this reason, an extension until 27 October was granted. After 9 days of negotiations, Holbrook snatched from Milosevic the commitment to satisfy what was expressed in Resolution 1199; NATO/OSCE operations (“Eagle Eye” and “Determined Guarantor”) would have verified the fulfilment of the commitment.

Despite diplomatic progress, between 1998 and 1999 violence on the ground did not diminish but rather increased in intensity. On 30 January, the Contact Group set 20 February 1999 as the final date for a political agreement between the parties involved in Kosovo. Talks began on 6 February in Rambouillet, France; the North Atlantic Council authorised the Secretary-General of NATO to order aerial bombardments if the parties failed to reach an agreement. On 20 February, the deadline was moved to 2.00 p.m. on the 23rd, and on the 23rd again it was extended to 15 March, the final date to approve the peace treaties in their entirety. The KLA accepted while Yugoslavia rejected the deadline: on 23 March, in the face of Belgrade’s unshakable position, and have found that all diplomatic efforts were in vain, the only option left to NATO was military action.

The Secretary-General instructed SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) to begin air operations: the “Determined Force” operation thus ended, leaving room – on 24 March – for the “Allied Force” operation.