The Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) was an OSCE mission to verify that the Serbian, and Yugoslav forces were complying with the UN October Agreement to end atrocities in Kosovo, withdraw armed forces from Kosovo, and abide by a ceasefire.
Contents
Remit
The KVM's job was to monitor parties' compliance with the agreement, to report any breaches to the OSCE, and to help affected civilians in Kosovo. Other requirements included:
Operations
United States diplomat William Walker was appointed head of the mission; he was relatively senior, reflecting the importance that NATO put on a peaceful settlement. His deputy was Gabriel Keller.
Despite being much larger and more complex than any previous OSCE mission, the KVM was put together relatively quickly; parts of the team arrived in Kosovo a month after the 16 October agreement. The KVM was divided into five regions, with a headquarters in Pristina.
Immediately after the Agreement, neither side adhered to the ceasefire; state loyalist forces continued to shoot at civilians, and there were sporadic KLA attacks on state forces.
When a KVM team arrived at the scene of the Račak massacre, they found "36 bodies 23 of which were lying in a ditch".
Withdrawal
In March 1999, there was an increase in ceasefire violations by both sides; as risks increased, it was decided to withdraw the KVM to Ohrid in Macedonia. Yugoslav forces' reaction to the withdrawal was "remarkably docile" and the KVM was downsized to 250 staff.
Then, after the KVM had left, state forces began a campaign of killings, rapes, detentions, and deportations of the Kosovar Albanian population.
Refugees fled to Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro; many refugees had their documents destroyed. In April 1999, the OSCE decided that the KVM should help deal with the refugee chaos; 70 verifiers were sent to Tirana, where they helped coordinate disaster-response and interviewed refugees.