NATO has continued to operate a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo since June 1999. To halt  the humanitarian disaster and to establish peace, NATO launched an air campaign in what can be described as the last-ditch effort by the international community to end a year of violence and hostilities between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. NATO’s decision to bomb the Yugoslav government’s  military and paramilitary structures came as a response to Slobodan Milosevic’s constant disregard of UN resolutions, after the failure of international efforts to resolve the conflict by diplomatic means. The air strikes were launched on 24 March 1999 and lasted for 78 days. On 23 April 1999, in Washington, NATO’s Heads of State and Government affirmed the Alliance’s goals for the Kosovo conflict: Ensure a verifiable stop to all military action and the immediate ending of violence and repression in Kosovo; Withdraw from Kosovo his military, police and para-military forces; Agree to the stationing in Kosovo of an international military presence; Agree to the unconditional and safe return of all refugees and displaced persons, and unhindered access to them by humanitarian aid organisations; Establish a political framework agreement.  Following the signing of the military agreement between NATO and the army of the former Yugoslavia, on 12 June 1999, NATO deployed its international peacekeeping force known as the Kosovo Force (KFOR) to Kosovo. KFOR’s objectives were to deter renewed hostilities, to demilitarise the Kosovo Liberation Army, to carry out reconstruction works, to establish a secure environment for the development of electoral processes and other political, economic and social aspects and to support the international humanitarian effort of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and other international and non-governmental organizations. KFOR was initially composed of some 50 000 personnel from NATO member countries, Partner countries and non-NATO countries under unified command and control. Improvements in the security environment enabled NATO to reduce KFOR troop levels to around 15 000 in 2003. On 17 February 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. This led to flare-up of tensions between the states. NATO’s commitment to ensuring a safe and peaceful environment in Kosovo has remained unchanged, so NATO’s operation in Kosovo has continued up to this day.  The Alliance, in close cooperation with the United Nations Mission (UNMIK), contributes to the establishment of a safer environment in which all citizens, regardless of their ethnic origin, can live peacefully together.