United Nations Security Council resolution 1203, adopted on 24 October 1998, after recalling resolutions 1160 (1998) and

1199 Year 1199 (Roman numerals, MCXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 13 – A short-lived truce is declared, between the Kings Rich ...

(1998) on

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 ...

, the Council demanded that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (

Serbia and Montenegro 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 of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

) comply with previous Security Council resolutions and co-operate with 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 ...

and

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) verification missions in Kosovo. The resolution was triggered by the

Gornje Obrinje massacre The Gornje Obrinje massacre ( sq, Masakra në Abri të Epërme, sr, Masakr u Gornjem Obrinju) refers to the killing of 21 Kosovo Albanians, belonging to the same family, in a forest outside the village of Donje Obrinje on 26 September 1998 by Ser ...

. On 16 October 1998 an agreement was signed in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the OSCE providing for the establishment of a verification mission in Kosovo, with aerial verifications over Kosovo agreed the previous day. The Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

was to send a mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to assess the situation on the ground in Kosovo. The Security Council stated that the conflict in Kosovo should be resolved peacefully and that the territory be given greater

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and meaningful self-administration. Meanwhile, violence, terror and the supply of arms and training to terrorists in Kosovo in pursuit of political goals was condemned. There was concern that

independent media Independent media refers to any media, such as television, newspapers or Internet-based publications, that is free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications. Within the United States and other developed ...

outlets in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been closed in addition to the impending humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo. Viewing the conflict as a threat to international peace and security and acting under

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military an ...

, the resolution demanded that FR Yugoslavia immediately and fully comply with the agreements with NATO and the OSCE. The Kosovo Albanian leadership also had to comply with the agreements and previous Security Council resolutions. Both parties were also urged to engage in dialogue to resolve the crisis and co-operate with international efforts to improve the humanitarian situation. The Kosovo-Albanians had to renounce terror and pursue their goals peacefully and it was reaffirmed that all

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s had the right to return home. Finally, it was stated that any crimes committed against the population were to be investigated by the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

and international assistance to this end was requested. Resolution 1203 was adopted by 13 votes to none against, with two

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s from

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and

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who opposed the use of force. China was also against a resolution that would pressure the internal affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Russia stated that the resolution had not taken into account positive developments in Belgrade.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 1998 1203 1203 1998 in Yugoslavia 1998 in Kosovo 1203 October 1998 events 1203

See also

References

External links