Editing NATO (section)

===Kosovo intervention===
{{Main|NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|Kosovo Force|l2=KFOR}}
[[File:German KFOR troops patrol southern Kosovo, summer 1999.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|German [[Kosovo Force|KFOR]] soldiers on patrol in southern Kosovo in 1999|alt=Three trucks of soldiers idle on a country road in front of trees and red-roofed houses. The rear truck has KFOR painted on is back.]]
[[File:MSU Mitrovica Manbox - Ibar Bridge summer 2019.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|[[Kosovo Force|KFOR]]-[[Multinational Specialized Unit|MSU]] [[Carabinieri]] Patrols in front of the [[New Bridge, Mitrovica|Ibar Bridge]] in [[Mitrovica, Kosovo]], 2019]]

In an effort to stop [[Slobodan Milošević]]'s Serbian-led crackdown on [[Kosovo Liberation Army|KLA]] separatists and Albanian civilians in [[Kosovo]], the [[United Nations Security Council]] passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1199|Resolution 1199]] on 23 September 1998 to demand a ceasefire.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crossette |first=Barbara |date=24 September 1998 |title=Security Council tells Serbs to stop Kosovo offensive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/24/world/security-council-tells-serbs-to-stop-kosovo-offensive.html |access-date=5 April 2025 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Negotiations under US Special Envoy [[Richard Holbrooke]] broke down on 23 March 1999, and he handed the matter to NATO,<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/302265.stm |title= Nato to strike Yugoslavia |work= BBC News |date= 24 March 1999 |access-date= 25 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150926010110/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/302265.stm |archive-date= 26 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> which acted on protecting regional security and started a 78-day bombing campaign on 24 March 1999.<ref>{{cite news |title= UN Kosovo mission walks a tightrope |date= 24 March 2004 |work= BBC News |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3565799.stm |first= Nick |last= Thorpe |access-date= 11 April 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120726190617/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3565799.stm |archive-date= 26 July 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Operation Allied Force targeted the military capabilities of what was then the [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]. During the crisis, NATO also deployed one of its international reaction forces, the [[ACE Mobile Force (Land)]], to Albania as the Albania Force (AFOR), to deliver humanitarian aid to refugees from Kosovo.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.unhcr.org/africa/sites/afr/files/legacy-pdf/3ba0bbeb4.pdf |title= The Kosovo refugee crisis |website= United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |date= 19 December 2005 |accessdate= 23 July 2023 |archive-date= 23 July 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230723203620/https://www.unhcr.org/africa/sites/afr/files/legacy-pdf/3ba0bbeb4.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref>

The campaign was and has been criticized over [[Civilian casualties during Operation Allied Force|its civilian casualties]], including the bombing of the [[U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade|Chinese embassy in Belgrade]], and over [[Legitimacy of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|whether it had legitimacy]]. The US, the UK, and most other NATO countries opposed efforts to require the UN Security Council to approve NATO military strikes, such as the action against Serbia in 1999, while France and some others{{specify|reason=Which others?}} claimed that the alliance needed UN approval.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9904/24/nato.un/ |title= NATO reaffirms power to take action without UN approval |work= [[CNN]] |date= 24 April 1999 |access-date= 4 September 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150128045422/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9904/24/nato.un/ |archive-date= 28 January 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> The US/UK side claimed that this would undermine the authority of the alliance, and they noted that Russia and China would have exercised their Security Council vetoes to block the strike on [[Yugoslavia]], and could do the same in future conflicts where NATO intervention was required, thus nullifying the entire potency and purpose of the organization. Recognizing the post-Cold War military environment, NATO adopted the Alliance Strategic Concept during its [[1999 Washington summit|Washington summit]] in April 1999 that emphasized conflict prevention and crisis management.<ref name="nato.int">{{cite web |url= http://www.nato.int/docu/handbook/2001/hb120704.htm |title= Allied Command Atlantic |access-date=3 September 2008 |work=NATO Handbook |publisher=NATO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813225955/http://www.nato.int/docu/handbook/2001/hb120704.htm <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=13 August 2008}}</ref>

Milošević finally accepted the terms of an international peace plan on 3 June 1999, ending the [[Kosovo War]]. On 11 June, Milošević further accepted [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244|UN resolution 1244]], under the mandate of which NATO then helped establish the [[Kosovo Force|KFOR]] peacekeeping force. Nearly one million refugees had fled Kosovo, and part of KFOR's mandate was to protect the humanitarian missions, in addition to deterring violence.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/media-releases/2000/kosovo-report-card.aspx |title= Kosovo Report Card |date= 28 August 2000 |work= [[International Crisis Group]] |access-date= 11 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120304114736/http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/media-releases/2000/kosovo-report-card.aspx |archive-date= 4 March 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> In August–September 2001, the alliance also mounted [[Operation Essential Harvest]], a mission disarming ethnic Albanian militias in the Republic of Macedonia.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/macedonia/1357773/Macedonia-mission-a-success-says-Nato.html |title= Macedonia mission a success, says Nato |work= The Daily Telegraph |first= Toby |last= Helm |date= 27 September 2001 |access-date= 11 April 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120905212636/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/macedonia/1357773/Macedonia-mission-a-success-says-Nato.html |archive-date= 5 September 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{as of|2023}}, around 4,500&nbsp;KFOR soldiers, representing 27&nbsp;countries, continue to operate in the area.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_48818.htm |title= NATO's role in Kosovo |publisher= NATO |date= 10 July 2023 |access-date= 23 July 2023 |archive-date= 26 June 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230626155525/https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_48818.htm |url-status= live }}</ref>