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In 1974 the former Yugoslavia grants its small province, Kosovo, self-government. The majority ethnic group of Kosovar-Albanians lives freely with the Kosovo-Serbs.

In 1989 Slobodan Milosevic, then Serbian President of Yugoslavia, dissolves the Kosovo parliament. The province is governed from Belgrade.

Between 1990 and 1998 the Kosovar-Albanians become increasingly shut out. A “Kosova liberation movement” gathers momentum.

In 1998 Belgrade sends troops to Kosovo to quell the uprising of the Kosova Liberation Army.

In 1999 war breaks out between the Yugoslav army and the KLA. Belgrade orders the province to be “ethnically cleansed of Kosovar-Albanians”.

Three civilians, an international aid worker and a soldier share their experiences…

Andy Reeds

Andy is a Major in the British Army. He was one of the first NATO troops to cross the Macedonian border when the international task force entered Kosovo in June 1999.

Jan Komrska

Jan is a pharmacist from Slovakia. He worked in Kosovo between 1996 and 2000 for the international non-governmental organisation Pharmacien sans Frontières (PSF). When fighting broke out between the Kosovar Liberation and Yugoslav armies, he provided essential drugs to isolated communities caught between the warring factions.

Dragan Mihajlovic

Dragan is an unemployed Serbian from Kosovo. He left his village of Novo Selo / Maxhunaj with his wife, Gordana, and three sons in 1999. Since then, they have lived as internally displaced people in Prilirhje, a village just a few miles from Novo Selo.
Find out more about his life...

Edlira Musa

Edlira is a housewife and Kosovar-Albanian from Kosovo. She lived in Maxhunaj / Novo Selo before the war but left the village during the troubles and returned just before NATO forces entered Kosovo. She lives there now with her husband and two young sons.
Find out more about her story...

Skender Kutllovci

Skender is a doctor and Kosovar-Albanian from Kosovo. He also worked with PSF providing medical services in the parallel health system set up for Kosovar-Albanians who could not get state healthcare. In 1999 he was forced to go to Albania by Serbian police.