NATO Enforces Fragile Peace in Kosovo

The United States accused both Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo of violating a cease-fire in the Serbian province and harming prospects for peace.

The Kosovo Liberation Army, which is bent on secession from Yugoslavia, “must refrain from reprisals and efforts to intimidate,” Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday. “But its provocations do not justify failures by the Serb government to meet its obligations,” she said at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana.

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is adding more special police in Kosovo and is failing to ensure they behave properly.

“He has to understand that Serb actions are being monitored and that NATO will insist on compliance,” Albright said.

Endorsing Albright’s remarks, Solana said NATO would continue to monitor the situation in Kosovo and if Milosevic does not comply with terms of the cease-fire, “he knows that NATO will not back off. . . . He has to comply.”

Faced with a NATO threat to attack the Serbs, Milosevic in October agreed to a cease-fire and to withdraw most troops and special police from Kosovo, where they had tried to forcibly avert secession.

Earlier, Solana told a group of reporters that a settlement this winter was essential in order to “guarantee we do not have a spring that is explosive.” He said the Serbs and ethnic Albanians have drafts of a settlement and, judging by their preliminary reactions, “we are on the right track.”

Albright said all refugees who had fled their homes in Kosovo during a Serb offensive had been able to return safely.

Meanwhile, snow in Kosovo forced the U.N. refugee agency to divert three aid convoys carrying emergency supplies to distribution points west of Pristina, spokesman Fernando del Mundo said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says no refugees now live in the open. Many are sheltering in the homes of friends and relatives or have managed to rebuild a warm room in their damaged houses.

But, he said, “Until the next harvest, they will need support.”

The UNHCR says about 60,000 refugees have returned to their homes over the last few weeks. But High Commissioner Sadako Ogata said the fragile peace “is marred by virtually daily incidents.”