The Kosovo War and the KFOR Peacekeeping Mission

Abstract

For the control of the territory of Kosovo, Albanian and Serbian nationalism fought four armed conflicts in the 20th century, the last of which was the guerrilla war of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) in 1998–99. The essential purpose of the asymmetric warfare waged by the guerrillas was to provoke the intervention of the international community. The outcome of the war was decided by NATO air strikes. The memory of the war has been recorded on both sides in a nationalistic interpretation that very much contributes to the lack of any reconciliation. That gives significance to KFOR’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo even at present. Gaining the COMKFOR position for a Hungarian general in 2021 is an excellent example of how to promote our vital interests in the field of multilateral military diplomacy.