The following article is the full script for the social media post our Creative Director, Andina Pepshi, made for Shoqata Akademike dhe Profesionale Shqiptare (SAPS), a US-based organization working to promote the well-being and unity of Albanian students globally. The post was a part of the Dose of Albania (DOA) series, which highlights some of the most important Albanian stories, from the tradition of religious tolerance to Ismail Kadare’s works and far beyond.
Due to time constraints on the Instagram reel, certain details had to be left out. They are included here to frame the unique relationship in its full context.
Andina takes us through the major developments that led to the unique bond between Kosova and the United States. It begins with the important groundwork laid by President Woodrow Wilson’s support for an independent Albania at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and goes on to detail the vital humanitarian intervention of the late 1990s. It is a thorough exposition of one of the most important dynamics in modern Albanian history.
Have you ever wondered how a small country like Kosova forged one of the strongest bonds with the United States? If you visit Kosova, you might have noticed American flags flying alongside Albanian ones, or street signs and statues dedicated to American leaders like Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright.
Kosova’s journey from a war-torn region to an independent country is marked by U.S. support at every critical turn. To understand its bond with the United States, though, you must go back to the early 20th century when President Woodrow Wilson stood firmly for the rights of Albanians at the Paris Peace Conference, helping to preserve Albania’s tenuous independence. The Conference took place in the aftermath of World War I, when Balkan neighbors and their Great Power allies sought to carve up and annex the nascent Albanian state. This early support laid the foundation for the strong relationship that would later extend to Kosova.
After Bulgaria's capitulation in 1918, French military units stationed in Thessaloniki, followed by the Serbian army, began reoccupying Albanian-inhabited territories that had been ceded to Serbia during the 1878 Berlin Congress and the 1913 Ambassadors' Conference in London. Despite Albanian resistance, inferior basic equipment and weapons made it an impossible feat to reclaim Kosova and other Albanian territories from French and Serb forces.
During the Second World War, Kosova was occupied first by Fascist Italy, then Nazi Germany. Both invaders pursued a policy of Ethnic Albania to garner the support of the population. After the end of the war, 49 delegates from the Communist Party of Albania and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia organized a conference in the village of Bujan in the Gjakova Highlands, where they issued a declaration proclaiming the unification of Albania and Kosova. However, Kosova was soon re-annexed by Yugoslavia, though granted territorial and administrative autonomy and symbolic jurisdiction with Serbian oversight. These protections were outlined as amendments to the Yugoslavian Constitution of 1974. They included rights such as flying their own flag and an autonomous political structure resembling that of Yugoslavia's republics, though without officially granting the status of a republic.
Though this period saw progress, from 1980 to 1992 Serbian hegemonic aspirations over Kosova gradually intensified. The socio-economic conditions in Kosova were far more dire than in other parts of Yugoslavia and in 1981 student protests erupted in support of Albanian rights. This worsened conditions by granting Serbian nationalists the pretext to increase aggressive policies against the Albanians, such as undermining their self-governance.
The next important episode of American influence began in 1986. That year, the U.S. Congress introduced a resolution condemning the repression of ethnic Albanians by the Yugoslav Government and strongly criticizing the human rights violations in the province. The resolution stated: “According to Western press reports since 1981, hundreds of ethnic Albanians have been killed and thousands have been arrested by the Yugoslav Government for expressing their views in a nonviolent manner.”
The issue of Albanian political prisoners and those who unjustly lost their jobs were also included. The resolution went further than asking for respect of human rights but also “full-fledged status as a republic equal to Yugoslavia’s six other republics which are the homelands for other ethnic groups with much smaller numbers than ethnic Albanians.” It was introduced in the House by Congressman Joseph DioGuardi, of Arbëresh descent, and in the Senate by Senator Bob Dole.
Although the resolution did not pass, it marked the beginning of a crucial discussion about the future of Kosova. Members of Congress regularly spoke about the plight of the region's Albanians to their colleagues, invited human rights advocates and Balkan experts to testify and wrote letters to the President and Secretary of State urging action on the matter. At that time, Albanians were already a numerous community in America, but their political awakening had just begun in earnest. After decades of isolation behind the Iron Curtain, they rallied behind this crucial cause.
This growing international interest did not have an immediate impact on the Yugoslav government, which only heightened the repression. The Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević, having risen to power in 1989 precisely by stoking ethno-nationalist sentiments in Kosova, positioned himself as the defender of Serbian interests. His aggressive campaign included abolishing the Kosova Parliament and eliminating the region's autonomy in 1989. Albanians were removed from jobs, schools, and virtually every position in public life, forcing them to build parallel state institutions to ensure their basic needs. In 1989, three resolutions were introduced in the U.S. Congress condemning the actions of the Yugoslav government in Kosova, though none passed.
That same year the first political party representing the Albanian majority, the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), was founded by Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, who would become Kosova's first president. The LDK branch in America began lobbying for political and financial support. Over the next ten years, LDK organized demonstrations, collected money for the parallel institutions and society in Kosova and lobbied political leaders. The party's offices in America acted as proto-embassies for the Republic of Kosova, where they coordinated public relations and diplomatic meetings with Congressmen, Senators, and the White House.
On October 8th, 1991, the U.S. Congress voted to suspend all assistance to Serbia, ban all government air travel and impose a trade embargo on Yugoslavia, whose power base now lay firmly in Serbia. In the context of the impending Yugoslav Wars, one of the enumerated reasons included the situation of Kosovar Albanians:
“Two million Albanians in the province of Kosovo have been living for more than two and one-half years under Serbian-imposed martial law. The repressive measures instituted against Albanians include thousands of political arrests, tens of thousands of politically motivated job dismissals, and wide-spread police violence against ethnic Albanians."
Following the bloody wars for the independence of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the future of Kosova's Albanians was not settled by the Dayton Peace Agreement. Public life for Kosovar Albanians was still organized clandestinely, with schools, hospitals and other societal institutions held in private homes funded entirely by citizens and the remittances of Albanians in the West. Albanian-Americans and sympathetic organizations strengthened their campaign to lobby the U.S. Congress at this crucial time.
On December 25th, 1992, President George H. W. Bush wrote a letter that later became known as the “Red Line for Kosovo”. In it, he warned Milošević that the United States would not tolerate the same abuses that occurred in Bosnia. According to former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, “...this was a very complicated equation. But it [became] the position of the Clinton administration and the Europeans inherited it and held to it.” The first big win for Kosova in Congress came in 1996, when H.R. 155 was adopted, stating that “future peace in the Balkans hinges largely on a settlement on the status of Kosovo.”
By 1998, tensions had boiled over to the point that Milošević’s forces were carrying out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kosovar Albanians, leading to a humanitarian disaster that would prompt U.S. intervention. H.R. 235 was passed in Congress, condemning the “violent repression carried out by the Serbian police and paramilitary forces against the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo.” That same day, the Senate passed S.R. 85 calling upon “Milošević to withdraw special police units from Kosovo and enter into unconditional negotiations with ethnic Albanian political leaders in order to find a peaceful political solution to the conflict or face additional international sanctions.” This was followed up four months later by a Senate resolution accusing Milošević of war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Kosova.
Indeed, the Milošević regime unleashed a brutal campaign of violence that left deep scars on the Albanian population. Entire villages were burned, families were torn apart and forced to flee their homes, tearing the very fabric of communities. About 1.4 million Albanians were displaced, fleeing for their lives as their communities were systematically destroyed. Men, women and children were often slaughtered in front of their loved ones as terror swept across Kosova. Around 13,000 civilians were murdered, leaving behind a legacy of grief and trauma. The genocide was not just a war — it was an attempt to erase a people, a culture and a homeland.
The first massacre of the Kosova War to draw significant international attention occurred in Raçak on January 15, 1999. Serbian forces killed at least 45 ethnic Albanian civilians, including men, women, and children. The statements of U.S. Ambassador William Walker, head of the Kosovo Verification Mission, on the brutal nature of the killings and the mass graves he witnessed prompted international outrage. This led to both the crucial Rambouillet peace talks and the United States’s forceful policy against Serbia's actions. Milošević was put on alert: if he did not stop the violent suppression of Albanians in Kosova, air bombings would commence.
Ambassador Holbrooke recounts his last attempt to reach a peace agreement with Milošević, when the Serbian dictator asked: “Are you crazy enough to bomb us over these issues we’re talking about in that lousy little Kosovo?”. Holbrooke succinctly responded, “You bet, we're just crazy enough to do it.”
After failed negotiations and increasing reports of atrocities, NATO, under U.S. leadership, decided to act. President Bill Clinton, alongside Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other key figures, spearheaded a 78-day NATO bombing campaign against Serbian military targets. The campaign, though controversial among some in the international community, proved to be a turning point. It led to the withdrawal of Serbian forces in June 1999 and the deployment of international peacekeepers, saving countless lives and allowing refugees to return home. In total, 39,000 members of the United States Armed Forces and civilian government employees were deployed at the peak of the 1999 combat missions.
Throughout the atrocities, the Albanian-American community played a crucial role in lobbying Congress, organizing rallies and raising awareness. Their collective efforts were vital in shaping U.S. support, which culminated in Kosova’s liberation.
Among these Congressmen that were sensitive to the cause of the Albanians were: Eliot Engel, Sue Kelly, Joseph DioGuardi, and Joseph Kennedy among many others. In the Senate, Bob Dole, Alfonse D’Amato, Joseph Lieberman, John McCain, Joseph Biden and Chuck Schumer proved particularly responsive.
President Bill Clinton, who made the decision to start the bombing campaign, his wife Hillary Clinton, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright all hold special places in Kosova's history.
Following the end of the Kosova War and the subsequent establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Kosova embarked on a long journey toward self-determination. The international community, led by the United States, played a crucial role in stabilizing the region and establishing lasting democratic institutions. With unwavering support from President George W. Bush, Kosova declared its independence on February 17, 2008, which the U.S. recognized the following day.
For Kosovars, the United States became a symbol of hope – a nation that stood by them when the world seemed indifferent. The streets and squares honoring American leaders stand as gestures of gratitude for their indispensable support along Kosova’s path to freedom. The bond between the U.S. and Kosovo is a genuine one, built on shared history and deep respect.
This is why we say: Thank you, USA!
Thank you for the history lesson!! Great Job!