| Date | Main Events on the Ground
| Political/Diplomatic/Military Actions
|
| 15 April 1999 |
| Defence Secretary agrees to increase UK contribution to HQ AMF(L) in Albania by 40.
Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to Ivanov. Mr Lloyd visits Albania and Macedonia to discuss Kosovo and urge host Governments to help the refugees.
Prime Minister speaks to NATO Secretary General.
|
| 16 April 1999 | Refugees claim Serbs using young Kosovar men as slave labour digging trenches and to provide blood for wounded Serb troops.
| Defence Secretary agrees to deployment of further VC10 tanker. David Gowan (FCO) appointed as War Crimes Co-ordinator.
|
| 17 April 1999 |
| Defence Secretary approves deployment of 2 Nimrod Maritime Patrol Aircraft and to temporary deployment of 22 KFOR signals personnel to Albania to support COMAFOR in HQ AMF(L).
Defence Secretary agrees US F-15E aircraft may operate from RAF Lakenheath.
Prime Minister speaks to Clinton.
|
| 18 April 1999 |
| Defence Secretary approves use of C130s for aeromedical evacuation of up to 50 refugees to the UK.
|
| 11-22 April 1999 |
| Rt Hon Paddy Ashdown MP visits Balkans. |
| 19 April 1999 |
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
Foreign Secretary makes statement to the House on Kosovo.
|
| 20 April 1999 |
| Prime Minister speaks to Chancellor Schroeder.
Defence Secretary speaks to Greek Defence Minister to thank him for agreement on use of Thessaloniki for deployment of second Armoured Battle Group.
Prime Minister visits NATO and RAF Bruggen.
Home Secretary announces plans for airlift of Kosovan refugees to Britain.
Brig Montgomery appointed as Commander of NATO Liaison Team to Macedonia.
|
| 21 April 1999 | 3 Cruise missiles hit HQ of Socialist Party in Belgrade.
| NATO Secretary General announces that NATO will update its planning for ground options.
Foreign Secretary telephones Macedonian President Gligorov to urge greater Macedonian help to refugees.
|
| 22 April 1999 |
| Prime Minister speaks by telephone to Yeltsin.
Mr Lloyd telephones Macedonian Prime Minister Georgievski.
|
| 23 April 1999 | Total number of refugees from Kosovo since 24 March reaches 612,000.
NATO aircraft attack main Belgrade TV station and 2 electrical power transformer stations powering military facilities in Belgrade and Zemum. 10 TV staff reported killed. Additional TV and communications targets hit in Novi Sad.
| NATO Summit Declaration reaffirms NATO demands; tasks Defence Ministers to look at ways NATO can contribute to halting delivery of war material including by launching maritime operations; and warns Belgrade that any attempt to undermine the Government of Montenegro will have grave consequences.
EU adopts common position prohibiting sale or supply of petroleum and petroleum products (POL) to the FRY.
|
| 25 April 1999 | First Kosovan refugees to arrive in Britain land in Leeds
| |
| 26 April 1999 | Refugees claim that women and children are being held as human shields in Prizren and that over 100 people have been killed at Slavina.
Vuk Draskovic sacked by Milosevic.
| GAC agrees further sanctions against the FRY: a travel ban on the regime and regime supporters; comprehensive flight ban; extension of the scope of the freeze on funds; prohibition of private sector export finance; extension of the investment ban; widening the scope of prohibition of dual use and strategic goods. With the exception of the ban on export of strategic goods, these measures come into force between 10 May and 19 June. Member States also agree to discourage sporting links with the FRY.
Statement to House of Commons by the Prime Minister on the NATO Summit. Outlines key points: air campaign should be intensified; oil embargo; discussion of circumstances in which ground troops would be deployed; assistance to International War Crimes Tribunal; and humanitarian aid.
|
| 27 April 1999 | Refugees report a Serb rape camp near Suva Reka and that 200 men evicted from their homes in Djakovica were taken from a refugee convoy near Meja and shot.
Remains of US missile found in Eastern Croatia.
| Malaysia and Bahrain table draft humanitarian SCR.
|
| 28 April 1999 | Refugees report that Serbs are ethnically cleansing the Presevo area (outside Kosovo).
Laser guidance of bomb deflected by cloud and impacted in civilian area (target was Army Training Centre in Surdulica in Southern FRY). At least 16 reported dead.
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
Foreign Secretary gives evidence on Kosovo before Foreign Affairs Committee.
Hungarian Defence Minister, Janos Szabo, says NATO to base 20 AAR aircraft in Hungary and attack aircraft to follow.
|
| 29 April 1999 | Communications and TV transmitter sites and bridges targeted. Three attacks on Podgorica Airfield (Montenegro) in action designed to protect NATO elements in Albania from FRY air attacks.
HARM fired against Serb Air Defence Radar on night of 28-29 April strayed off target and impacted in Bulgaria.
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to Albright and Fischer.
FRY institutes proceedings in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against 10 NATO states accusing them of unlawful use of force and genocide.
Defence Secretary announces commitment of nine additional aircraft to the air operation—four Harrier GR7, four Tornado GR1 and a Tristar tanker.
Defence Secretary (plus four MPs, Messrs Campbell, George, Howard and Maples) visit British forces in Gioia del Colle, Albania and on board HMS INVINCIBLE—29-30 April.
|
| 30 April 1999 | UNHCR say they believe that the "final cleansing" of Prizren is underway.
Belgrade main TV transmitter, HQ of Yugoslav Army, Federal Interior Ministry and Police building attacked.
| |
| 1 May 1999 | NATO airstrike accidentally hits civilian bus on bridge in northern Kosovo. Many casualties reported.
US F-16 downed in north-west Serbia. Pilot recovered safely.
| EU POL ban enters into force. From this moment, virtually no POL reaches FRY via Montenegrin ports.
|
| 2 May 1999 | Refugees report that several thousand people had been herded into a field near Vucitrn. Over 100 young men taken away to prison had not been seen since.
Three US soldiers held by Serbs since 1 April released in deal brokered by American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.
| |
| 3 May 1999 | NATO refutes Serbian allegations of bombing a bus in Pec killing up to 20 civilians. Media pictures show damage not consistent with airstrike.
| G8 Political Directors meet in Bonn to discuss principles for resolving crisis. Meeting agrees ad referendum principles for resolution of crisis and need for a temporary international administration of Kosovo.
|
| 3-4 May 1999 |
| Prime Minister in Macedonia and Romania. Announces doubling of humanitarian aid to £40 million. Calls for inclusive vision for region post-crisis, including accelerated timetable for Romanian accession negotiations with EU.
|
| 4 May 1999 | Refugees report that 100 men were dragged from refugee convoy near Vucitrn and shot dead.
Two American crew killed when Apache helicopter crashes during training in Albania.
| Prime Minister discusses Kosovo by telephone with Clinton.
Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/German/Italian colleagues.
|
| 5 May 1999 | Rugova released from house arrest and travels to Italy as a guest of Italian government.
Total numbers of refugees since 24 March reaches 713,530.
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
Mrs Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, tells the Security Council that fragile and unprepared countries are bearing the brunt of one of the largest refugee flows Europe has seen in the 20th Century: 700,000 people already have been forced to leave their homes. Up to 23 March (when UNHCR left Kosovo), UNHCR had been providing assistance to 400,000 people displaced or otherwise affected by fighting within Kosovo, and to 90,000 refugees or displaced people outside Kosovo. She points out that ethnic cleansing had started long before the NATO air strikes had begun.
Macedonian Foreign Minister Dimitrov calls on Mr Lloyd to discuss how to help Macedonia cope with refugee crisis.
Statement to House of Commons by the Home Secretary on Kosovo refugees.
Adjournment Debate in House of Commons on humanitarian issues in Kosovo.
|
| 6 May 1999 |
| G8 Foreign Ministers agree principles to resolve Kosovo crisis at meeting in Bonn.
US, UK, French and Italian Defence Ministers speak on telephone.
Meeting of Chiefs of Defence Staff of France, Germany, Italy, UK and US.
Debate in House of Lords on Kosovo.
|
| 7 May 1999 | Chinese Embassy in Belgrade hit accidentally by NATO missiles. Three Chinese nationals reported killed.
NATO cluster bomb accidentally hits market in Nis.
Fehmi Agani murdered by Serb Police.
| To supplement earlier ad hoc lobbying, UK begins major world-wide lobbying exercise in support of EU POL embargo, NATO visit and search regime in the Adriatic, and preventing POL reaching the FRY along the Danube.
|
| 7-10 May 1999 |
| Russian Vienna Document 1994 inspection of NATO forces in Macedonia.
|
| 8 May 1999 |
| Ivanov calls off planned visit to UK in response to Chinese Embassy bombing.
Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to his US/French/German colleagues.
|
| 9 May 1999 |
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to his US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
|
| 10 May 1999 |
| UN Envoy Bildt calls on the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.
Foreign Secretary makes statement to the House on Kosovo, including accidental bombing of Chinese Embassy.
|
| 10-12 May 1999 |
| ICJ hearings in the 10 cases brought by the FRY.
|
| 10-11 May 1999 |
| Meeting of UK, French, German and Italian Defence Ministers in Bremen in margins of WEU Ministerial meeting.
|
| 11 May 1999 |
| Foreign Secretary speaks to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
|
| 12 May 1999 |
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
HMS TURBULENT completes operations in support of OP ALLIED FORCE.
|
| 13 May 1999 | NATO air strikes against village of Korisa. About 87 Kosovars killed accidentally. Reports suggest that they were being used by the Serbs as human shields.
| Defence Secretary agrees that two battalions of light role infantry and a mechanised battalion should begin training in preparation for deployment to Kosovo.
|
| 13-14 May 1999 |
| Rugova visits London to meet Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.
|
| 14 May 1999 |
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
Security Council adopts humanitarian SCR 1239. 13 votes in favour. Russia and China abstain.
Defence Secretary approves forward basing of Tornado GR1s at Solenzara, Corsica.
Mary Robinson, UN High Commisioner for Human Rights, criticises NATO for killing civillians in the bombing campaign. Makes clear, however that she does not equate this with the "vicious human rights violations committed by Serb forces in Kosovo".
|
| 16 May 1999 | UN inter-agency humanitarian assessment mission arrives in Belgrade.
| |
| 16-18 May 1999 |
| Russian Vienna Document 1994 inspection of NATO forces in Albania.
|
| 17 May 1999 | Refugees report that 100 men rounded up by VJ as they tried to cross from Montenegro to Albania. The men allege that they were beaten, robbed and sexually abused.
| Foreign Secretary meets Ivanov in Brussels.
GAC regrets Milosevic's failure to accept the international community's conditions for peace in Kosovo; welcome Ahtisaari's mission; and stresses the need for an SCR.
Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to his US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
Prime Minister visits Bulgaria. Pledges support for region and offers Bulgarians encouragement on EU and NATO accession.
|
| 18 May 1999 | US claim that at least 5,000 Kosovars have been killed in mass executions in Kosovo. 225,000 Kosovar men are unaccounted for.
Anti-war demonstrations reported in southern Serbian towns of Krusevac and Alexandrovac.
| Adjournment debate in House of Commons on Kosovo.
Prime Minister in Albania for talks on Kosovo.
Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
|
| 19 May 1999 | NATO cluster bombs accidentally cause light collateral damage to Belgrade hospital. Residences of both Swiss and Swedish Ambassadors also damaged.
| G8 Political Directors meet in Bonn to discuss draft SCR.
Foreign Secretary gives evidence on Kosovo before Foreign Affairs Committee.
Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
|
| 20 May 1999 | 19 people reported killed in NATO bomb attack on Serb prison complex in Istok.
| |
| 20-21 May 1999 |
| Foreign Secretary visits Washington for talks with the Americans on Kosovo. Foreign Secretary delivers strong messages to media and Congress on what is at stake in Kosovo and underlines UK/US unity of purpose, including through joint media appearances with Albright.
|
| 21 May 1999 | HMS INVINCIBLE withdrawn from theatre to be replaced by RFA ARGUS on 1 June.
| Defence Secretary approves issue of an Invitation To Tender for Temporary Field Accommodation for UK forces in theatre.
|
| 22 May 1999 | NATO air strikes against army barracks at Kosare, unaware it is now occupied by KLA.
| |
| 23 May 1999 |
| Prime Minister discusses Kosovo by telephone with Clinton.
|
| 24 May 1999 | Head of UJN assessment mission confirms widespread ethnic cleansing by Serbs.
Reports from Belgrade indicate that between 2,000 and 3,000 Yugoslav reserve troops have refused to return from home leave.
| Prime Minister discusses Kosovo by telephone with Clinton.
|
| 25 May 1999 | Refugee numbers reach 886,000. Thousands of Albanians also internally displaced as a result of cross border shelling.
UN population fund reports that Serb forces committing widespread rape and atrocities against pregnant women.
| Prime Minister briefs Leader of the Opposition on Kosovo.
Greece requests moratorium on NATO troop movements through Thessaloniki during period of European Election campaign (4-15 June).
|
| 26 May 1999 | Three aid workers, two Australian and one Yugoslav national, go on trial in Belgrade charged with espionage.
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to his US/French/German/Italian colleagues.
Foreign Secretary visits colleagues in Paris, Bonn and Rome.
Defence Secretary approves reduced Notice To Move of 3 Infantry Battle Groups, 2 Brigade HQs, deployment of heavy equipment and acquistion of strategic lift and materiel for KFOR.
Statement to House of Commons by the Defence Secretary on Kosovo, covering details of damage to Yugoslav forces, need to increase size of KFOR and reduction in Notice To Move of additional UK forces.
Liberal Democrat representatives briefed on progress of air campaign, details of enhanced KFOR and contingency planning for ground options, stressing no decisions taken either by NATO or the UK.
|
| 27 May 1999 |
| Announcement of indictment of Milosevic and four other senior FRY/Serbian figures by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war.
Meeting of Defence Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, UK and USA in Bonn results in further commitments to KFOR Plus.
Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone to US/German/Italian colleagues.
Conservative representatives briefed on progress of air campaign, details of enhanced KFOR and contingency planning for ground options, stressing no decisions taken either by NATO or the UK.
|
| 28 May 1999 |
| Foreign Secretary speaks by telephone bilaterally to Albright, Fischer and Dini.
|
