PRISTINA -- On March 24, 1999, NATO launched Operation Allied Force, an aerial bombing campaign to expel Serbian troops from Kosovo. After 78 days, the air strikes ended on June 10 with the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, leading to the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces and the establishment of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.
The campaign -- aimed at stopping ethnic cleansing that resulted in more than 13,000 civilians killed during the Kosovo War, which took place from 1998-99 -- facilitated the return of more than 800,000 refugees to their homes.
Twenty-five years later, Kosovars are still honoring the politicians, UN officials, and others who helped them break free of Yugoslavia by naming town squares, streets, businesses, and even their children after those they consider to be their liberators.
Sami Begolli (center left) stands next to his grandmother in a camp for refugees in Blace, in what is now North Macedonia, in April 1999.
When the bloodshed broke out, 24-year-old Sami Begolli was forced to flee his home. He spent his first week as a refugee in a camp in Blace, in what is now North Macedonia, then a month in the Stenkovec refugee camps near Skopje, and later in Spain.
“It was an indescribable feeling when we returned. We didn't even think about eating or drinking because of the joy of having come back," he said.
Today, Sami Begolli is the owner of the Walker furniture shop, named after William Walker, the then-head of the OSCE's Kosovo Verification Mission.
During his months as a refugee, Begolli found solace in statements from William Walker, the then-head of the OSCE's Kosovo Verification Mission. Walker had been accused by Serbian President Milan Milutinovic of fabricating the Racak massacre, which became the focus of an investigation by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
“Next time, I will come back and enter without a passport,” Begolli recalls a defiant Walker as saying after being declared persona non grata by the Yugoslav government and forced to leave within 48 hours.
William Walker (left), the then-head of the OSCE's Kosovo Verification Mission, is seen visiting the site of the Racak massacre in January 1999.
In September 1999, Begolli and his family returned to Kosovo and opened a furniture workshop they named in honor of Walker. The business in Caglavica still bears Walker's name.
“We chose his name because he expedited NATO's intervention. I have said many times that, without him, things could have been much worse,” Begolli says.
Walker played a key role in documenting the massacre in Racak, where Serbian forces killed 45 Albanian civilians on January 15, 1999. He described the event as a crime against humanity.
A U.S. F-16 fighter jet takes off from NATO's Aviano Air Base in Italy on March 24, 1999, for a mission targeting Yugoslav military positions in Kosovo.
The legacy of NATO's 1999 intervention endures as Kosovo continues to honor its supporters, who were crucial to its independence, declared on February 17, 2008. More than 100 countries, including the United States and many EU members, recognize Kosovo's independence, though Serbia, Russia, and China do not.
A statue of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Pristina. Albright was a central figure who advocated for military intervention to stop the ethnic cleansing.
Today, wherever you go in Kosovo, you can find driving schools, clothing stores, tattoo parlors, car dealerships, and plumbing services named after these dignitaries, such as the company Klintoni Plumbing Service in Kline.
A portrait of former U.S. President Bill Clinton looms over the boulevard named in his honor in Pristina.
“No one calls us by our name. Everyone says 'The Clintons.' For example, if someone's water pipes are damaged, everyone says, 'Call Clinton,'" explains Shkelqim Bojaj, who has run the business since 2019.
Despite the shop initially being named for his father, Bojaj says now that he cannot imagine changing its name, which honors then-U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The Klintoni plumbing company in Kline, named in honor of former U.S. President Bill Clinton
The NATO intervention completely changed Bojaj's life. At 6 years old, his family was split in half: his father was injured in Kosovo, while Bojaj and the rest of the family fled to Albania. The family reunited only after Kosovo's liberation.
“It was a very happy moment. Since then, my father has always loved Clinton,” said Bojaj.
The Hillary clothing store near Bill Clinton Boulevard in Pristina
In Pristina, there is a square named in honor of Clinton, along with a statue of him. Nearby, a clothing store named Hillary honors former U.S. first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A street named after U.S. General Wesley Clark in Ferizaj
In Ferizaj, Kosovo's third-largest city, a street named after General Wesley Clark, the former supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR), leads to Tony Blair Square. Clark and the then-British prime minister both played significant and proactive roles during the 1998-99 Kosovo War.
A street named after former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Ferizaj. Blair was a vocal proponent of NATO intervention and worked closely with Clinton and other NATO allies to build a coalition.
In the capital, a statue of then-U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright -- who was a strong advocate for NATO intervention -- was unveiled five years ago. A year later, Pristina added a statue of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole, who led a U.S. delegation to Kosovo in 1990. Dole later described the visit in a Twitter post as “the beginning of a journey towards independence for the people of Kosovo.”
The statue of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole in Pristina, the Kosovar capital
In addition to statues, streets, and businesses, these individual contributors have been commemorated in another way: by having children named in their honor. During Clinton's last visit to Tirana, he was surprised by the number of children from Kosovo bearing his name.
According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (ASK), there are 31 boys named Clinton, one named Bill, three girls named Hillary, four boys named Tonibler, and two boys named Clark in Kosovo.
Last year, the former U.S. president met with 12 people from Kosovo whose parents named them after him in gratitude for his role in ending the war.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (center) and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (left) pose for a picture with people who were named after Clinton in gratitude for his role in stopping the 1998-99 Kosovo War, in Tirana on July 3, 2023.