Towards the end of 2000, clashes between Yugoslav security forces and the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB) in southern Serbia forced thousands of Albanian villagers from the area to move into neighbouring Kosovo. Although at the time the number of displaced persons was relatively small and the conflict was confined to a five-kilometre-wide strip between Serbia and Kosovo, the hopes for finally achieving peace and stability in the region hung on the line. There was also a danger that the conflict erupting in southern Serbia would have serious implications for Serbs remaining in Kosovo.

In June 1999, following the cessation of NATO's bombing campaign and the return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees from neighbouring countries to Kosovo, reprisals against the Serb population in the province began. Scores of Serb civilians were forced to flee their homes. Those brave enough to stay behind could not move about freely and had to be under constant guard by NATO. Around the same time, some of the Yugoslav security forces implicated in war crimes in Kosovo were redeployed in the predominantly Albanian municipalities of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, referred to by the international community as the Presevo Valley.

An agreement between the Yugoslav security forces and NATO led to the establishment of a five-kilometre-wide buffer zone between Kosovo and southern Serbia which was meant to prevent accidental clashes between the two armies. The establishment of the Ground Safety Zone, as it was called, along with the redeployment of the Yugoslav security forces set the stage for the eventual outbreak of violence in the area.

By the fall of 2000, the reprisals in Kosovo – though far from over – had begun to decline. UNHCR was working with NATO and the UN Mission in Kosovo on ‘putting in place the conditions' for Serb returns. Negotiations were underway with the Albanian political leadership to encourage them to recognize the right of the Serbs to return to their homes. There was also a new, more moderate government in Belgrade under the leadership of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica.

It was in this cautious but hopeful environment that the armed struggle of the UCPMB and counterinsurgency operations by the Yugoslav security forces began in southern Serbia. UNHCR responded immediately to the influx of Albanian villagers into Kosovo and began contingency planning for further displacement. Concerned about possible repercussions on the Serb population in Kosovo, UNHCR's special envoy to the region made a number of assessment missions to southern Serbia to explore means to defuse the conflict.

The Albanians in the Presevo Valley feared the Yugoslav forces from Kosovo operating in the area, whom they accused of intimidation, harassment, the occupation of housing and destruction of property. There was also a history of discrimination against ethnic Albanians in the Presevo Valley which was aggravating the situation and had provoked the rise of the UCPMB. The lack of representation in the local police force – most of the Albanian police had been dismissed by the former regime – was the leading concern, though there were a number of other problems related to education, employment and the media. As the Albanians were also under-represented in the government, they asserted that they were unable to resolve their grievances through the appropriate political structures.

UNHCR's special envoy drew up a list of confidence-building measures to address these grievances and defuse the situation. He presented these to President Kostunica and the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Nebojsa Covic, who was designated as Belgrade's main interlocutor on the crisis. He also stressed the importance of ending hostilities as soon as possible, given the negative consequences for the Serb population in Kosovo and prospects for the return of those who had fled. The steps that would follow and eventually lead to a peace agreement were achieved through the combined efforts of a remarkable network of partners, including the United Nations, NATO, intergovernmental and regional organizations, and concerned governments.

In early 2001, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the Balkans, Carl Bildt, warned that the crisis was the ‘most serious threat to stability in the Balkans'. Meanwhile, the High Commissioner for Refugees wrote letters to the Secretary-General of NATO, Lord Robertson, and the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, Javier Solana, appealing for international help to prevent the conflict from spiralling out of control. He called on the European Union to send monitors to the region and engaged the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to establish a multi-ethnic police force for southern Serbia. UNHCR also established a full-time presence in the Presevo Valley and encouraged other UN agencies and NGOs to do the same.

Back in Belgrade, Deputy Prime Minister Covic began work on a plan that would incorporate the confidence-building measures proposed by the special envoy. These included the integration of ethnic Albanians into the political, governmental and social structures in southern Serbia, and a step by step demilitarization of the Ground Safety Zone. Covic's plan also included an amnesty for the Albanian fighters. Meanwhile, NATO sent in a representative to facilitate direct talks between Covic and the UCPMB.

By the spring of 2001, a demilitarization agreement was reached by the two parties. UNHCR proposed that the demilitarization begin in Lucane, a small village in Bujanovac Municipality, which had been partially occupied by Yugoslav forces. On 17 May, UNHCR was present alongside NATO representatives, EU monitors, Deputy Prime Minister Covic and the commander of the UCPMB to witness the disarmament of the rebel movement and the historic withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from the village. The process was repeated village by village until the entire area was demilitarized and there was a complete cessation of hostilities.

On the humanitarian side, UNHCR and other UN agencies and NGOs began to implement programmes that included repairing homes and other forms of assistance to boost the confidence of the population. The combined efforts of all of these players paved the way for the return of some 15,000 displaced persons to their homes. When fighting broke out in the neighbouring former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the spring and summer of 2001, the same actors came together to resolve the conflict, averting another potential disaster in the Balkans. These experiences demonstrate that effective partnerships and preventive measures work when the international community shows the political will and mobilizes the necessary resources.

Challenges ahead

Box 4.2 Democratic Republic of Congo: a forgotten crisis