26 years since NATO launched airstrikes against Serbia and Montenegro

Two decades and a half later, NATO’s first military intervention still marks a turning point—for Kosovo, the Balkans, and global conflict diplomacy.

On this day 26 years ago, NATO began its air campaign against military and police targets in Serbia and Montenegro, then part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The strikes were ordered by then-US President Bill Clinton, after failed efforts to end the conflict in Kosovo through diplomacy. At the time, Clinton said: “We and our NATO allies have exhausted every effort for a peaceful solution. But President Milosevic chose aggression over peace.”

The first bombs were dropped in the evening, hitting strategic military positions. The campaign lasted until June 9, 1999, when the Kumanovo Agreement was signed—forcing Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo.

Known as NATO’s first-ever military intervention, the operation marked a historic moment in both regional and alliance history.