United Nations Security Council resolution 1203, adopted on 24 October 1998, after recalling resolutions

1160 Year 1160 ( MCLX) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sends an embassy led by John Kontostephanos to Jerusalem, to ask King Baldwin ...

(1998) and

1199 Year 1199 (Roman numerals, MCXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 13 – A short-lived truce is declared, between the Kings Richard I of England, Richard I (the Lionh ...

(1998) on

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 ...

, the Council demanded that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

) comply with previous Security Council resolutions and co-operate with the

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 ...

and

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

(OSCE) verification missions in Kosovo. The resolution was triggered by the Gornje Obrinje massacre. On 16 October 1998 an agreement was signed in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the OSCE providing for the establishment of a verification mission in Kosovo, with aerial verifications over Kosovo agreed the previous day. The Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

was to send a mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to assess the situation on the ground in Kosovo. The Security Council stated that the conflict in Kosovo should be resolved peacefully and that the territory be given greater

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

and meaningful self-administration. Meanwhile, violence, terror and the supply of arms and training to terrorists in Kosovo in pursuit of political goals was condemned. There was concern that

independent media Independent media refers to any media (communication), media, such as television, newspapers, or Internet-based publications free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications. Independence stands as a corne ...

outlets in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been closed in addition to the impending humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo. Viewing the conflict as a threat to international peace and security and acting under

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military a ...

, the resolution demanded that FR Yugoslavia immediately and fully comply with the agreements with NATO and the OSCE. The Kosovo Albanian leadership also had to comply with the agreements and previous Security Council resolutions. Both parties were also urged to engage in dialogue to resolve the crisis and co-operate with international efforts to improve the humanitarian situation. The Kosovo-Albanians had to renounce terror and pursue their goals peacefully and it was reaffirmed that all

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s had the right to return home. Finally, it was stated that any crimes committed against the population were to be investigated by the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

and international assistance to this end was requested. Resolution 1203 was adopted by 13 votes to none against, with two

abstention Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a Voting, vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrast ...

s from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

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who opposed the use of force. China was also against a resolution that would pressure the internal affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Russia stated that the resolution had not taken into account positive developments in Belgrade.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 1998 1203 1203 1998 in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1998 in Kosovo 1203 October 1998 1203

See also

References

External links