The Končulj Agreement is a colloquial name for two statements, signed by the

Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac The Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac ( sq, Ushtria Çlirimtare e Preshevës, Medvegjës dhe Bujanocit, UÇPMB) was an Albanian militant group fighting for separation from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for three municipalit ...

(UÇPMB) and the

Republic of Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

within

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

. The Končulj Agreement is the first agreement related to this part of Serbia (Preševo, Medveđa, and Bujanovac). It resulted in the full demilitarization, demobilization, and disarmament of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medveda, and Bujanovac. It also calls for integration of

ethnic Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbi ...

into governmental, civic, economic, and police structures, and support from the international community to implement the so-called Čović Plan. The agreement ended the conflicts that spilled over from

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, with political representatives from the local Albanians, Serbia, and Kosovo committing to demilitarization and demobilization of the UÇPMB. The agreement was witnessed by Sean Sullivan, who was the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Head of Office in the FRY. According to that agreement, the Yugoslav Army was to enter Sector B of the Ground Security Zone by 31 May 2001.

Background

On June 12, 1999, one day after the end of the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

and the signing of the

Kumanovo Agreement The Military Technical Agreement, also known as the Kumanovo Agreement, signed between the International Security Force (KFOR) and the Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia, was an accord concluded on 9 June ...

, the UÇPMB was founded by Shefket Musliu, an auto mechanic from Končulj, who was the highest commander in the UÇPMB. The UÇPMB attacked in the villages of Dobrošin and Konćulj. The UÇPMB attacked until the border with Macedonia and continued to go north until the end with the eastern border with

. The

Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

tried to take back some Serbian soldiers in Mid-November 2000, but they had to retreat following the kidnapping and killings of four policemen and two wounded policemen in the demilitarized zone, allowing the UÇPMB to take one of the serb-held pockets. Earlier in March 2001,

allowed Yugoslav forces to take back the

Ground Safety Zone Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

(GSZ) sector by sector in an attempt to decrease the amount of tense fighting between the ethnic

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

separatists and MUP. In mid-May 2001, 400 UÇPMB forces surrendered to

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defunct ...

, supposedly ending the war, but it continued until June 1, 2001 when it officially ended. Low intensity skirmishes continued.

Provisions

The key provisions of the agreement were designed to do the following: *the full demilitarization, demobilization, and disarmament of the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa, and Bujanovač (UÇPMB) *integration of ethnic Albanians into governmental, civic, economic and police structures, and support from the international community to implement the so-called Ćovic Plan *stop the fighting in Preševo, Medveđa, and Bujanovač

References

{{reflist 2001 in Serbia