Eligibility & Criteria

Awarded for :

• Thirty days continuous or accumulated service from 18 October 1998 to 31 December 2002 on the land, at sea or in the air space of Kosovo and other territories of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Albania, the Former Republic of Macedonia, and the Adriatic and Ionian Seas (the theatre of operations); or
• Ninety days continuous or accumulated service from 18 October 1998 to 31 December 2002, in the territories of Italy, Greece, and Hungary, in direct support of the NATO operations in Kosovo (the adjacent area); or
• Aircrew who participated in Operation ALLIED FORCE between 24 March and 10 June 99 will be deemed to have qualified after flying 15 sorties during the operation in the airspace of Kosovo and the other territories of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Aircrew who completed less than 15 sorties under this criteria will be allowed to aggregate the number of sorties completed with other qualifying service.

This medal was replaced by the Non-Article 5 NATO Medal for Operations in the Balkans on 1 January 2003.

Personnel arriving in theatre before 3 December 2002 count their time towards this medal and its associated tour numerals until the end of the deployment. Personnel arriving in-theatre on or after 3 December 2002 count their time towards the Non-Article 5 NATO Medal for Operations in the Balkans. No personnel can receive the two medals for the same deployment regardless of its duration.

NATO strictly applies their medals policy and will not consider requests for initial issue of NATO medals that are submitted more than two years after repatriation from mission area.

NATO Regulations state that any person who dies or is evacuated because of injuries of medical reasons directly attributable to service is deemed to have satisfied the time criteria.