Former NATO Spokesperson: Even after 22 years, my memories of the Kosovo war are still vivid
It has been 22 years since NATO launched an air campaign against the military and police forces of the former Yugoslav federation to end the ethnic cleansing of the Milosevic regime it was demonstrating against Kosovo Albanians.
One of the main protagonists of this campaign was Mr. Jamie Shea, former spokesperson for the NATO Alliance. Kosovapress spoke with Mr. Shea to ask him how he had experienced the start of the bombing and the entire air campaign against the forces of the Milosevic regime.
After 22 years, Mr. Shea remembers the most sensitive moments that have left traces in his memory and also his perspective on the developments that have taken place in Kosovo during these 22 years.
KosovaPress: Mr. Shea, today 22 years ago NATO launched the air campaign against the military targets of the former Yugoslavia. You were the spokesperson of NATO at that time and the people of Kosovo today remember you as a hero? Tell us please how do you feel today after 22 years?
Mr. Shea: Even after 22 years, my memories of the Kosovo conflict are still vivid. At a time when the human rights of people are being suppressed in so many places around the world, I am glad that NATO was able to protect the human rights of the Kosovars and end the brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing that was carried out by the Milisovic regime. I only wish that NATO had been able to do the same thing in Bosnia by intervening earlier in that conflict. Nothing that has happened in the last 25 years has made me change my mind that Kosovo was a necessary and totally justified humanitarian intervention. Of course, I could wish that this or that aspect of NATO’s military campaign had gone better but I am proud and honoured to have been involved in one of the most successful operations to allow a people to live in freedom and security that we have witnessed in recent decades.
KosovaPress: Can you share with us any memorable moments you had at the time?
Mr. Shea: For me, there are two memorable moments. The first was in June 1999, very soon after the end of the NATO air campaign, when I visited Pristina and was recognised by the people of Kosovo and had a chance to speak to them. Their sense of relief that they were now free but also their many stories of personal fear and hardship while they hid from the Serb forces reinforced my conviction that NATO had done the right thing. It was a very joyous moment. The second key moment was in May 1999 when the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague indicted Milosevic for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his forces in Kosovo. This demonstrated that it was not just NATO but the global legal community that recognised the repression of the Kosovars and where the responsibility lay. It was an important morale booster and stiffened our resolve not to give up before we had obliged the Serb forces to leave Kosovo.
KosovaPress: The people of Kosovo still remember in memory the courageous calls from you, “be patient a little longer. "Milosevic will surrender", how do you remember the moment of signing the Kumanovo agreement that Milosevic actually surrendered?
Mr. Shea: It was a good moment because it meant that the air campaign combined with an intense diplomatic effort had succeeded in inducing Milosevic to withdraw his forces without the necessity of a NATO ground operation. I am personally convinced that NATO would have launched this operation had it been needed to stop the repression, but it was clearly not an option that the allies preferred and it would have been costly and difficult. Milosevic tried to save face by calling the NATO KFOR forces “United Nations” forces and pretending that he had surrendered to the UN. But I don’t think many people were fooled by that, including in Serbia.
KosovaPress: At that time, did you believe that the western project on the Kosovo issue would have the success it has today?
Mr. Shea: At the time, the priority was to stop the violence in Kosovo and to create an environment of security that would allow the displaced Kosovars to return safely to their homes. Kosovo was placed under the jurisdiction of the United Nations with the UNMIK mission. That meant that the international community would determine its future and not Belgrade which to my mind was already a considerable step forward. But it was clear to me very soon after the events of March-June 1999 that the Serb legacy of missrule in Kosovo would make it impossible for the country to come back under the administration of Belgrade, and that independence would happen sooner or later. The debate became one of the conditions, modalities and timing of independence but not about independence itself.
KosovaPress: If we go back we see that for these 22 years Kosovo has changed completely. From the danger of extinction, it has now become an independent state. How would you assess the journey of Kosovo together with the west during these 22 years?
Mr. Shea: It has been a great partnership and I agree that today independent Kosovo has been transformed beyond recognition. Bravo to the people of Kosovo for all this hard work and progress. I know there are still many frustrations regarding the economy, rule of law and integration into the Euro-Atlantic community, but I am confident that the partnership between NATO, the EU and Kosovo will get us there in the end. The key thing is that we work together constructively. Together we must also fight back against the narrative of the authoritarian countries when they use fake news and disinformation to pretend that the NATO intervention was an aggressive act designed to punish Serbs and break up Serbia; when in truth it was a principled defence of justice and human rights.