Kosovo

   During the late 1990s, Kosovo became an important issue in Russian foreign relations and the country’s domestic politics. The intervention of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the former Yugoslavia was deeply unpopular in the Russian Federation, due to United States and European Union (EU) support for Catholic Croatia and Muslim Bosnia against Orthodox Serbia, a historical ally of Russia.

   With the ascent of Yevgeny Primakov, the Kremlin became increasingly critical of U.S. policy toward Belgrade, and in 1999, Boris Yeltsin warned Bill Clinton not to intervene militarily in the region. However, when negotiations between the Kosovar leadership and Slobodan Milošević’s government failed to produce results, NATO began a bombing campaign of Serbia and occupied Kosovo in an effort to stop the forcible removal of ethnic Albanians. In an attempt to save face, Russian troops entered Kosovo shortly before the NATO force. The Kosovo crisis underscored Yeltsin’s lack of influence with the United States and NATO and soured many Russians’ view of the West in general.

   Over the next decade, the Kosovars moved steadily toward full secession from Serbia, under the aegis of NATO and later EU protection. Vladimir Putin emerged as a vocal critic of Pristina’s goal of independence, arguing that such a move—if recognized by the international community—would trigger similar outcomes in the frozen conflict zones of the former Soviet Union, specifically NagornoKarabakh, Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia (the latter two were, in fact, recognized by President Dmitry Medvyedev in the summer of 2008).

   On 17 February 2008, the Assembly of Kosovo formally declared independence; the decision was ultimately recognized by more than 50 foreign nations, including most members of the EU, Turkey, and the United States. Russia described the move as “illegal,” and used its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council to prevent UN recognition. No member of the Commonwealth of Independent States has recognized Kosovo’s independence.