| |
| 1999, Jan. 1 |
| |
| In the EU's greatest economic victory in its 40-year history, the euro, a single European currency, was launched. The nations participating in this inauguration of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) were France, Finland, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. | 1 |
| |
| March 12 |
| |
| Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary became full members of NATO. | 2 |
| |
| March 24–26 |
| |
| In a summit of the EC, former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi was chosen as the new president of the EU executive body. | 3 |
| |
| March 24–June 10 |
| |
| Realizing that its military powers were insufficient in the face of a crisis, the EU agreed to back NATO in bombing Yugoslavia in order to combat oppression and attempted genocide against ethnic Albanians in its southern province of Kosovo. A pact was signed on June 3, and 50,000 NATO troops entered the region on June 12 to secure peace. The Kosovo Force (KFOR) consisted of soldiers from many EU countries, including Italy, France, Britain, and Germany. Although uncooperative with NATO and EU officials, Russia was also intimately involved in the conflict and peace agreement. Russia insisted on inclusion in the Yugoslav intervention after having shown significant support for the Serb government of Slobodan Milosevic, sending food and other aid during the fighting. | 4 |
| |
| April 23 |
| |
| NATO celebrated its 50th anniversary in member countries all across Europe. | 5 |
| |
| June 3 |
| |
| The EU banned the sale of Belgian poultry and dairy products after an economic and political crisis arose in Belgium because of the accidental poisoning of the nation's chicken supply. It was believed that the cancer-causing chemical, Dioxin, had contaminated Belgian poultry through poisoned animal feed. | 6 |
| |
| June 10–13 |
| |
| Although a larger number of left-wing candidates had dominated in 1998, the 1999 elections for the EC saw a substantial gain for rightists in the EU. | 7 |
| |
| Aug. 7–Dec. 26 |
| |
| Russia initiated a massive military assault on Islamic uprisings in Dagestan and Chechnya, reviving the war of 1996. By Feb. 6, 2000, Russia had taken control of Grozny, the Chechen capital. | 8 |
| |
| Sept. 13 |
| |
| After over a decade of sanctions against Libya, economic penalties against the country were lifted after Pres. Qaddafi handed over two Libyans suspected in the 1988 bombing of a Pan American World Airways 747 airplane over Lockerbie, Scotland (See April 5). | 9 |
| |
| Nov. 4 |
| |
| In environmental talks, the EU progressed toward its goal of getting more countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 pact aimed at reversing the effects of global warming and other worldwide threats to the environment. | 10 |
| |
| Nov. 22–Dec. 8 |
| |
| Although lifted by the EU one year earlier, the ban on British beef, which had been implicated in cases of mad cow disease, continued in France. An economic battle developed between the two countries as the lucrative French market remained closed to the British beef industry (See July 14). | 11 |
| |
| Dec. 10 |
| |
| At an EU summit in Helsinki, Finland, seven nations were formally invited to begin the processes of applying for future EU membership. Along with Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, Malta, Latvia, and Slovakia, Turkey was tentatively invited to participate in negotiations. EU officials urged Turkey to improve its human rights record, as well as its economic and political systems, in order to qualify the nation for future inclusion in the European organization (See Dec. 10). | 12 |
| |
| |
