International attitudes
Attitude New NATO Members
(Alphabetical order)
The Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary joined NATO on March 12, 1999.
Czech Republic
Of the Czech population, only 35% of the population was in favor of the air campaign against Yugoslavia (April 1999). Prime Minister Milos Zeman told his people that his country could not really do anything about the attacks, since the decision was taken before the Czech Republic joined the alliance. This attitude angered NATO Secretary-General Janvier Solana, who reprimanded the Czech ambassador Karoe Kavanda in Brussels.
Long after the end of Operation Allied Force, the Czech Republic ventilated some criticism towards NATO. At a conference on NATO in the Czech Senate, on December 6, 1999, Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan repeated the words of his prime minister (April 1999) when he said that the NATO air strikes had taken his government by surprise. The strikes commenced 12 days after the Czech Republic was accepted into the alliance in March 1999. He insisted that his government "supported all NATO steps, although it was not easy for many cabinet ministers". He also said Serbian media were better prepared to cover the NATO campaign than were the "relevant NATO bodies, especially in the first days of the air strikes".
Hungary
Hungary is the only NATO country sharing a border with Serbia. The Hungarian nation was not comfortable with the involvement in the conflict. As the question whether to send ground troops in a possible next step became more obvious, the Hungarians feared that NATO might use the relatively flat Donau area to enter Serbia, since it was easier accessible than the rough terrain between Albania and Macedonia. It would theoretically even be possible to proceed to Belgrade, at no more than a few hours from the Hungarian border. In reality it was more likely that troops would just be sent to Kosovo. But nevertheless, the Hungarians shivered at the thought of a ground war. Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Zsolt Nemeth, said "then we will have to fight against our own people." In the area north of Belgrade — the Vojvodina — approximately 300,000-350,000 ethnic Hungarians were living. Under Tito the ethnic Hungarians had a form of self-rule, just like the ethnic Albanians had in Kosovo. With the developments in Kosovo the ethnic Hungarians tried to provoke the Serbs as little as possible.
On May 12, 1999, Hungary agreed to a deployment of US warplanes. It allowed 24 F/A-18 attack planes (which arrived May 22, 1999) and three A-10s to be stationed on its territory for use against targets in Serbia. American KC-135 refueling tankers were already based at Budapest, and earlier the Hungarian government already agreed to let NATO warplanes use its air space. To enable its warplanes in Turkey and Hungary to reach their targets, NATO asked Bulgaria and Romania for permission to fly over their territory.
On June 2, 1999, Hungary agreed that its armed forces should take part in a Kosovo peacekeeping force if a peace agreement would be concluded.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty cited the Budapest Daily Vilaggazdasag from June 24, 1999 saying that according to a report confirmed by "several independent sources", a NATO plan to invade Yugoslavia may have been abandoned due to the personal intervention of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban with US President Bill Clinton. The report said a senior NATO figure gave Orban access to a plan requiring that Hungarian territory be used to launch a ground operation in April. According to the plan, only Western military units were to take part in the invasion. The timing of the ground attack was planned so tightly that the Hungarian parliament would not have had time to debate the issue before making a decision, the paper concluded.
Poland
In Poland, where joining the NATO alliance was considered to be the most important step after their conversion to Christianity, 60% of the people was in favor of the NATO air campaign. Enthusiasm for ground troops was significantly less — like in most other NATO countries.
Attitude Other NATO Members
(Alphabetical order)
Canada
Polls showed that approximately 70% of the public (May 9, 1999) supported the air strikes against Yugoslavia. With the growing number of innocent civilian casualties, it was getting more difficult to convince the public.
Canada supplied a dozen CF-188 (F/A-18) fighter jets.
France
Early in the campaign, public support was strong, but this eroded over time. The public seemed split evenly.
France supplied 38 planes, a frigate, and 2,400 troops in Macedonia.
Germany
For Germany this was the first combat mission since the end of World War II. The country strongly backed the NATO air campaign, but German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder repeatedly ruled out the use of ground troops before any peace agreement would have been reached.
Germany supplied 16 jets and had up to 6,000 troops in Italy and Macedonia. Germany provided more aid per capita to refugees than any other European country.
Greece
The Greek government strongly criticized the bombings but also accused Belgrade of committing atrocities against Kosovo's ethnic Albanians. The country refused to participate in military actions against Yugoslavia and to send ground forces into combat against the Serbs. It let NATO use its ports and offered logistical support. The public almost unanimously opposed the air strikes. A majority sympathized with the Serbs, whom they considered fellow Orthodox Christians. Public attention was centered on the growing number of Serb bomb victims. The position of a Greek minority in southern Albania and the 400.000 Albanians in Greece were a source of tension between Albania and Greece.
Greek officials denounced the Serbs' treatment of ethnic Albanian civilians. Apart from Germany, Greece provided more aid per capita to refugees than any other European country.
On May 26, 1999, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said a temporary suspension could promote diplomacy and eventually get approval of a UN Security Council resolution on a settlement.
On June 7, 1999, the US prepared the positioning of a contingent of 2,000 Marines in Macedonia to be the vanguard of US peacekeepers in Kosovo. However, the Greek government blocked the Marines from landing at an Aegean port. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, aboard three Navy ships, remained just outside Greece's territorial waters, awaiting a go-ahead from Athens. It was not until June 10 that the marines were finally allowed to land.
Italy
Italy favored a three-day cease-fire once the UN would have come up with a resolution to give Yugoslavia time to respond. Premier Massimo D'Alema said that if Milosevic would remain defiant, NATO should send in ground troops. About half of the public favored the strikes.
Italy had some 54 jets available for the air campaign. Also, eleven air bases were in use to house a majority of the allied planes.
Turkey
(May 22, 1999) Turkey was in favor of the minority in Kosovo. For a long time in history, Albania was a part of the Ottoman empire and Turkey has strong ties with Kosovo Albanians. Turkey strongly backed the NATO air strikes. Whether the country would be prepared to contribute ground troops was not clear. Turkey contributed 12 fighter jets and a frigate.
On May 12, 1999 NATO announced a plan to attack Yugoslavia from new locations. The attacks thus far only came from the west, from the Adriatic or western Europe, but NATO planned to deploy 54 US Air Force F-15E and F-16CJ fighters at three air bases in western Turkey. On May 18, 1999, the Pentagon said Turkey would contribute 18 fighter jets.
United Kingdom
As one of the few countries, the UK strongly favored the use of ground troops from the beginning, once air strikes rendered the Yugoslav army incapable of organized resistance. Both politicians and the public broadly supported the campaign. The Liberal Democrats said NATO was too mild. British foreign secretary Robin Cook said on May 23, 1999 that NATO had to be prepared to deploy ground troops "in a permissive or a non-permissive environment". The UK had 30 planes and five ships in the region (May 22, 1999).
RFE/RL quoted "The Observer" of July 18, 1999 which in turn quoted General Sir Charles Guthrie, head of the UK's Defense Staff, and his deputy, Air Marshal Sir John Day, as saying that
commanders from the UK and US finalized plans in early June 1999 to launch a massive ground invasion of Kosovo. The project was called "Operation B-Minus" and would have involved 170,000 troops, including 50,000 from the UK. The invasion was slated to begin the first week of September 1999 if Milosevic had not pulled his troops out of the province by then. It is unclear which other NATO countries were prepared to participate in the project.
United States
The US is the leading country in NATO. Clinton objected the use of ground troops, but from May 18, 1999 on he indicated that he would consider dispatching ground troops if the air campaign would not succeed. US politicians seemed divided over the use of ground troops. Surveys showed the public was evenly split on the issue of ground troops.
In mid April public support for the air strikes was as high as 59%. A poll by the CBS network on May 18, 1999 showed that public support for the air strikes fell to 49%. It seemed the majority was in favor of a temporary halt in the bombings so that NATO could pursue a negotiated settlement.
The US supplied 687 aircraft — with 900 more in reserve — and 6,000 troops. Some 7,000 to 8,000 would join an international peacekeeping operation (May 22, 1999).
Polls on June 11, 1999 — after the signing of the pact with the Serbs — showed that 71% of the American public favored peace keeping operations in Kosovo.
Attitude Other Countries
(Alphabetical order)
Countries directly involved
Albania
Albania is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. On April 12, 1999, Albanian foreign minister Paskal Milo said the country handed over control of its airspace, ports and military infrastructure to NATO and was ready to accept more NATO ground troops.
Bulgeria
Bulgaria is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. NATO sought permission to use its air space in pursuing air strikes against Yugoslavia. This was granted on May 4, 1999, after Bulgaria's parliament voted in favor with 154 to 83, in exchange for security guarantees. The matter was extremely sensitive, since the country is mainly Slav Orthodox with strong kinship with fellow Serbs.
As a former Warsaw Pact member, Bulgaria had many of the same type of Soviet-made radars as Yugoslavia. NATO planners needed to make sure that the Bulgarian radars were not attacked by mistake, when entering Bulgarian airspace. On three occasions (situation May 12, 1999), HARM missiles accidentally struck Bulgaria.
NATO warplanes fired the HARMs, which home in on enemy radar beams, at Serbian surface-to-air missile batteries. When the Serbs quickly turned their radars off, the HARM missiles apparently picked up radar emissions in Bulgaria and attacked targets there. Technical adjustment to the Bulgarian radars were suggested by NATO. The alliance said it might also try to persuade Bulgaria to turn off their radars while allied warplanes were flying nearby or overhead.
Macedonia
Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski declared support for the Western push against the oppressive regime of Yugoslav President Milosevic.
Some 300,000 ethnic Albanian refugees entered Macedonia since the start of the air campaign, half of them living in camps, the other half living as guests in Albanian homes. The country repeatedly stated it cannot handle more refugees and said the balance between ethnic Albanians and the rest of the population might be disturbed.
Some 12,000 NATO troops were deployed in an early stage as a Kosovo peace keeping force before the start of the allied air campaign. After the North Atlantic Council approved a plan on May 25, 1999 to double the proposed Kosovo force to roughly 50,000 troops, Macedonia felt overrun by NATO. The government begged for assurances that it would not become the staging site for a ground invasion against its northern neighbor. After China vetoed the extension of the UNPREDEP mission in Macedonia (February 25, 1999) in retaliation for the Macedonian ties with Taiwan, some 1,100 UN observers left Macedonia. Until then they had monitored the border with Yugoslavia since Macedonia's independence.
On June 2, Macedonia allowed NATO to station an additional 14,000 troops on its territory, bringing the total there to 30,000. In return, Macedonia was promised additional economic assistance.
Romania
Romania is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. On May 12, 1999 Turkey and Hungary agreed on the deployment of US war planes on their territory, for use against targets in Yugoslavia. To enable its warplanes in Turkey and Hungary to reach their targets, NATO asked Bulgaria and Romania for permission to fly over their territory. Both countries agreed.
Russia
Russia strongly opposed the NATO air campaign, but also stressed that they would not get involved in military action. Within three weeks after the start of NATO's air campaign, Russia temporarily suspended all contacts with NATO, and simultaneously threatened to withdraw all troops under NATO command in Bosnia. The country was aiming for a partial withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo, provided that the NATO bombing would stop first, while NATO insisted on the five demands set earlier. Russia was also aiming for a significant role in any peace keeping force in Kosovo -- and pursued that objective rather aggressively.
In an attempt to play a more prominent role in the conflict, former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was pushed forward as the main mediator in the Kosovo conflict. Together with President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland negotiations were held with Belgrade, which contributed to the final peace accord.
Russia has strong ties with Serbia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has sought to build alliances with China and India to counter US power.
Countries not involved
Australia
Australia was in favor of the air strikes.
China
Throughout NATO's air campaign, the entirely state-controlled media focused mainly on the role of the United States and Serb civilian casualties in the air strikes. The killings and expulsions of ethnic Albanians by the Serbs were only scarcely mentioned.
On May 7, 1999 NATO planes bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade (see Bombing of Chinese embassy). Biased media coverage and incomplete or incorrect explanations on the campaign fed a belief that the West was not telling the truth. Various theories were published about plots and conspiracies against communist China. NATO always insisted the targeting of the embassy was a mistake. However, the diplomatic issues kept the countries occupied long after the air strikes were suspended, on June 10, 1999.
Egypt
Egypt was in favor of the air strikes and said the Serbs should accept the peace initiative.
India
India strongly opposed the NATO air campaign and criticized the alliance for attacking a sovereign country without seeking UN approval.
Iraq
Iraq opposed the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia, saying that the campaign was lacking international legitimacy.
Israel
Israel showed tepid support for the air strikes. The Israeli foreign minister — at the time, Ariel Sharon — condemned the violence in Kosovo but refused to cut ties with Yugoslavia.
Japan
The Japanese prime minister said the air strikes were an unavoidable step to prevent humanitarian atrocities.
Slovak Republic
On June 1, 1999, the parliament approved sending a 40-troop battalion to Albania under NATO command, to assist in road construction, highway maintenance, and preparing landing sites for helicopters.
South Africa
South Africa opposed the air strikes. The foreign minister said that "the erosion of the United Nations Charter and the authority of the United Nations Security Council cannot be tolerated by the international community."
Ukraine
The Ukraine opposed the air campaign against Yugoslavia, saying it was an act of aggression against a sovereign country. The country had one Infantry Battalion in SFOR operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Vietnam
Vietnam opposed the air strikes, saying that NATO violated the independence of a sovereign country.