Incident at Pristina airport
Incident at Pristina airport | |
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Part of the aftermath of the | |
Result |
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KLA (UÇK)
Yunus-bek Yevkurov
Nikolai Ignatov
Viktor Zavarzin[1]
Mike Jackson
Hashim Thaçi
Agim Çeku
A confrontation between
Background
The
The
Incident
Early on 11 June 1999, a column of about 30 Russian armoured vehicles carrying 250 Russian troops, who were part of the international peacekeeping force in Bosnia, moved into Serbia. At 10:30 this was confirmed by
Upon hearing of the deployment, American NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Wesley Clark called NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana and was told "you have transfer of authority" in the area. Clark then provisionally ordered a contingent of British and French paratroopers to be flown in by helicopter to seize the airport by force. Staff officers had grave concerns that helicopters might be fired on by Serb forces and that entering Kosovo before the agreed time might cause the Serbs to pull out of the agreement. If the airborne force got into trouble it would have been very difficult to reach them overland through the mountainous country where bridges and tunnels were known to be prepared for demolition. As this operation would have been outside the newly signed agreement for NATO forces to move into Kosovo the following day, national governments had the right to withdraw their own forces and the French government pulled its battalion out. British paratroopers sat by Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters in a hot cornfield for most of the afternoon before standing down to prepare for the following day's move into Kosovo.[3]
At 05:00 on 12 June, the British
The following morning, Sunday 13 June, Clark arrived at Jackson's HQ in Skopje. It was pointed out to Clark that the isolated Russians could not be reinforced by air and that, in light of how vital Russian support had been to get peace agreement, antagonising them would only be counterproductive. Clark refused to accept this and continued to order that the runway be blocked, claiming to be supported by the NATO Secretary-General.
Jackson was ready to resign rather than follow Clark's order. The British Ministry of Defence authorised British force commander Richard Dannatt to use 4 Armoured Brigade to isolate the airfield but not to block the runways.[3] Clark's orders were not carried out, and the United States instead placed political pressure on neighbouring states not to allow Russia to use their airspace to ferry in reinforcements. Russia was forced to call off the reinforcements after Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania refused requests by Russia to use their airspace.[7][8]
Negotiations were conducted throughout the stand-off during which Russia insisted that its troops would only be answerable to Russian commanders and that it would retain an exclusive zone for its own peacekeepers. NATO refused these concessions, predicting that it would lead to the partition of Kosovo into an Albanian south and a Serbian north. Both sides eventually agreed that Russian peacekeepers would deploy throughout Kosovo independently of NATO.[6]
Aftermath
After an agreement had been secured, Pristina airport was reactivated by Britain's 53 Field Squadron (Air Support) of the Royal Engineers as a military airbase on 15 October 1999, then international air transport resumed to several European cities. During that period, the Russian KFOR along with NATO forces were in charge of security for the airport.
Clark was subsequently removed from his NATO post early by General Hugh Shelton, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[8]
See also
- The Balkan Line, a 2019 Russian-Serbian film based on the incident.
References
- ^ "Why a NATO general defied the Supreme Allied Commander in Kosovo". 4 October 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9780593059074.
- ^ ISBN 9780593059074.
- ^ "Krigere og diplomater" (in Norwegian). Norli.no. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ "Tittel" (in Norwegian). Norli.no. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ a b Peck, Tom (15 November 2010). "How James Blunt saved us from World War 3". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ a b "Confrontation over Pristina airport". BBC News. 9 March 2000. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ a b Norton-Taylor, Richard (3 August 1999). "Robertson's plum job in a warring Nato". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 March 2014.