Operation Allied Harbor was

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's first humanitarian operation. In the case of the

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

, by the end of March 1999 these agencies were unable to cope with the massive influx of refugees into

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. Within a fortnight over 200,000 refugees had arrived from Kosovo and NATO was the only organisation quickly able to meet the expanding need. HQ ACE Mobile Force (Land) was deployed within five days. Military personnel and staff set to work within twenty four hours of arrival, and within a few weeks, working closely with the civilian sector and the Albanian Government. By 15 June 1999 there were 479,223 refugees in the country. But the provision by NATO of medical, engineer, transport, security and staff support prevented

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

from destabilising Albania and proved instrumental in sustaining the refugees and in their eventual return to Kosovo.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allied Harbor, Operation Kosovo War NATO-led peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia