Event registry
Events
27 November 1968
The November 1968 demonstrations
On 27 November 1968 Albanian demonstrators, mostly students, protested in Prishtina and other Kosovo towns, demanding among other things republic status and a university in the Albanian language.
DocumentedFebruary 1974
The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution
The fourth SFRY Constitution gave Serbia's two autonomous provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina, broad autonomy: their own constitutions, constitutional courts and representation in the federal Presidency and chambers.
Documented11 March 1981 – 8 April 1981
The 1981 demonstrations
Protests that began on 11 March 1981 in the University of Prishtina canteen grew in late March and early April into demonstrations across Kosovo demanding a republic. A state of emergency was declared and federal police and the army were deployed.
Documented17 January 1982
The killing of Jusuf and Bardhosh Gërvalla and Kadri Zeka
On 17 January 1982, in Untergruppenbach, Germany, two unidentified gunmen shot the exile activists Jusuf Gërvalla, his brother Bardhosh and Kadri Zeka. All three died.
DocumentedSeptember 1986
The draft SANU Memorandum
In September 1986 the unfinished draft of a memorandum by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts leaked prematurely; it became a key text of Serbian nationalism of the time.
Documented17 November 1988
The Trepça miners' march
On 17 November 1988 Trepça miners marched towards Prishtina against the forced resignation of leaders Kaqusha Jashari and Azem Vllasi and against the planned constitutional changes. This began several days of mass peaceful protest.
Documented20–28 February 1989
The Trepça miners' hunger strike
From 20 to 28 February 1989 about 1,300 Albanian miners (sources give 1,200–1,350) barricaded themselves underground in the Stari Trg mine and went on hunger strike against the constitutional amendments and the leaders installed by Belgrade.
Documented23–28 March 1989
The constitutional amendments and the removal of autonomy
On 23 March 1989, with the building surrounded by police and military vehicles, the Kosovo Assembly approved amendments curbing autonomy; on 28 March the Serbian Assembly adopted them. Protests and deadly clashes followed.
Documented23 December 1989
The founding of the Democratic League of Kosovo
On 23 December 1989 a group of Albanian writers and intellectuals founded the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and elected Ibrahim Rugova as its chairman.
Documented1990
Mass dismissals from employment
After 1990, tens of thousands of Albanians were dismissed from jobs in administration, education, health care, the media and state enterprises under “special circumstances” measures.
Documented2 February 1990
The movement to reconcile blood feuds
From 2 February 1990 students and intellectuals led by the folklorist Anton Çetta ran a mass campaign to reconcile families in blood feuds. The largest gathering was held on 1 May 1990 at Verrat e Llukës.
Documented2 July 1990
The Constitutional Declaration of 2 July 1990
Barred from the Assembly building, Albanian delegates gathered outside and adopted a “Constitutional Declaration” proclaiming Kosovo an equal unit within Yugoslavia and rejecting the 1989 amendments.
Documented5 July 1990
The suspension of Kosovo's Assembly and Government
On 5 July 1990 the Serbian Assembly passed a law terminating the work of the Kosovo provincial Assembly. The same day Radio Television Prishtina was taken over and Albanian-language broadcasting stopped.
Documented7 September 1990
The Kaçanik Constitution
On 7 September 1990 Albanian delegates of the suspended Assembly met secretly in Kaçanik and adopted a Constitution of the Republic of Kosova; a clandestine legislature and government followed.
Documented1991
The parallel education system
From the early 1990s, after Albanian pupils and teachers were shut out of school and university buildings, Albanian-language teaching continued for years in private houses and improvised premises, funded largely by local and diaspora contributions.
Documented26–30 September 1991
The independence referendum
From 26 to 30 September 1991 Kosovo Albanians held an unofficial referendum on Kosovo as a sovereign, independent state, often voting in private homes to avoid the police. Belgrade did not recognise it; only Albania did.
Documented24 May 1992
The parallel elections of May 1992
On 24 May 1992 Kosovo Albanians held unofficial parliamentary and presidential elections for the parallel institutions. The LDK won a majority and Ibrahim Rugova was elected “President of the Republic of Kosova”.
DocumentedNovember 1995
The Dayton Agreement and Kosovo's absence
The Dayton Agreement, initialled in November 1995, ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina but did not address Kosovo — a major disappointment for the peaceful-resistance strategy.
Historical interpretation1 September 1996
The Milošević–Rugova education agreement
On 1 September 1996 Slobodan Milošević and Ibrahim Rugova signed an agreement, mediated by the Community of Sant'Egidio, to return Albanian pupils, students and teachers to school buildings. It was largely not implemented.
Documented1 October 1997
The peaceful student protest of 1 October 1997
Students of the parallel University of Prishtina protested peacefully for implementation of the education agreement and a return to university buildings. Serbian police dispersed the protest by force.
Documented28 November 1997
The UÇK's first public appearance in Llaushë
On 28 November 1997, at the funeral of the teacher Halit Geci in Llaushë (Skenderaj), three masked, uniformed UÇK fighters appeared before the mourners and addressed them. HRW calls this the group's first public appearance.
Documented1998
Detentions at the UÇK headquarters in Jabllanicë
According to ICTY judgments, detainees were held and mistreated at the UÇK headquarters in Jabllanicë (Gjakova) in 1998. Lahi Brahimaj was finally convicted of cruel treatment and torture of two of them.
Judicially established22–23 February 1998
Robert Gelbard's statements on the UÇK
US Special Representative Robert Gelbard publicly called the UÇK a terrorist group, first at a press conference in Prishtina on 22 February 1998 and again in Belgrade on 23 February.
Documented28 February 1998 – 1 March 1998
The attacks on Likoshan and Qirez
On 28 February – 1 March 1998 Serbian special police forces, using a helicopter, armoured personnel carriers and mortars, attacked the Drenica villages of Likoshan and Qirez after a shooting incident. HRW documented 25–26 Albanians killed and evidence of the summary execution of at least 14 people.
Documented