Sanctions on Yugoslavia

Below are highlights of the sanctions that for most of the past decade have been a key part of Western policy toward Yugoslavia.

1991 -- The European Union and United States impose trade sanctions on Yugoslavia to try to force it to comply with the cease-fire in Croatia.

1992 -- More trade sanctions are introduced over Yugoslavia's role in the war in Bosnia.

1995 -- Basic trade sanctions are lifted following the Dayton agreement, but Yugoslavia is still denied access to international finance.

1998 -- Belgrade's polices in Kosovo prompt the United Nations to impose an arms embargo against Yugoslavia. The EU and the United States ban new investments in Yugoslavia and freeze Yugoslavia's assets abroad. The EU also bans Yugoslav airline flights.

1999 -- The EU bans oil sales to Yugoslavia. The EU also imposes a visa ban for hundreds of Serbian politicians, army and police officers and businesspersons.

2000 -- Pressure from the Serbian opposition prompts the EU to temporarily suspend its ban on commercial flights. In July, the EU also exempts a "white list" of companies in Serbia from financial restrictions. In October, following opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica's inauguration as Yugoslavia's new president, the EU lifts sanctions it had imposed since 1998.