NATO Chief Empowered to Order Airstrikes in Yugoslavia

In another step in the escalation of world pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, NATO on Saturday authorized its secretary-general to order airstrikes any time he chooses to back a diplomatic drive for peace in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

The action by NATO’s North Atlantic Council means that Javier Solana can act without having to go through the time-consuming process of seeking approval from the capitals of the 16 nations of the alliance.

“The council has agreed today that I may authorize airstrikes against targets on Yugoslav territory,” Solana told reporters at North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels. “We rule out no option to ensure full respect by both sides in Kosovo for the requirements of the international community.”

In Washington, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright praised the action.

“Diplomacy backed by the threat of force is the only way to ensure that both sides halt the violence and come immediately to the negotiating table,” she said.

“The choice is truly up to the leadership on both sides, especially the authorities in Belgrade,” she said. “Either they cease fighting and agree upon a peaceful interim settlement, or they will face the consequences NATO spelled out.”

White House National Security Advisor Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger said bombs could begin falling on Yugoslav targets as soon as a three-week ultimatum expires, or sooner if Serbian police or military forces are implicated in new massacres of ethnic Albanian civilians.

“The unanimity of the international community is very strong,” Berger said. He added that Milosevic should “understand here that we are serious and NATO is serious.”

The United States is ready to contribute the bulk of the warplanes to the NATO bombing campaign, officials said, but the White House is far more cautious about agreeing to contribute U.S. ground troops to a peacekeeping force that might be required to keep order if Milosevic and the ethnic Albanians agree on a peace plan.

Officials said the White House is conferring with Congress on the matter, but they said no decision has been made. They also emphasized that peacekeepers would go into Kosovo only if all fighting stops.

Albright said Friday that no NATO country would send peacekeepers to a “hostile environment.” Britain and France have already agreed to contribute peacekeepers, but officials of those countries also emphasize that the violence must end first.

On Friday, the six-nation Contact Group, a major power consortium coordinating peace efforts in the Balkans, issued an extraordinary ultimatum directing Milosevic and the ethnic Albanian antagonists to meet before the end of this week in a French chateau and to agree before Feb. 19 on a plan offering substantial self-rule to the ethnic Albanian community. Albanians make up about 90% of the population of Kosovo, a province claimed as a center of nationalist pride by Serbia, the dominant republic of what is left of Yugoslavia.

In the first step of the U.S.-initiated plan, NATO on Thursday issued a clear but unspecific warning of military action if the warring factions in Kosovo do not go to the conference table.

NATO could take military action on short notice because the alliance assembled an armada of more than 400 aircraft during a crisis in October. That situation was resolved without military action after Milosevic agreed to a deal, which he has since violated. A senior administration official said the October plan is still in force, including aircraft and personnel that alliance members promised then.

The U.S. share of the force is a little more than half.

The official said the aircraft carrier Enterprise is in port in Italy but could reach the waters of the Adriatic off Yugoslavia “in a day.” The ship carries more than 70 warplanes. The official said “a couple of dozen” Air Force planes are based in Italy, and the Pentagon has plans to base B-52 bombers in Britain for use in any military action.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook delivered the ultimatum personally to Milosevic and leaders of the ethnic Albanians on Saturday.

According to the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, Milosevic said after the meeting that “it was well known that Serbia and Yugoslavia were firmly committed to resolving problems in Kosovo, which is an integral part of Serbia, peacefully in Serbia with the participation of the representatives of all ethnic communities.”

The official government news agency said Milosevic promised to study the proposal of the Contact Group, made up of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the U.S.