Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Sunday marked the 26th anniversary of NATO’s intervention in the Kosovo war, calling the 78-day air campaign one of the alliance’s most successful missions and a turning point for the country’s independence.

“On March 24, 1999, NATO launched Operation Allied Force, a 78-day air campaign that ended the last genocide of the 20th century and paved the way for a free, sovereign, and independent Kosovo,” Kurti wrote on social media.

He said the operation remained one of NATO’s most significant achievements, adding that Kosovo, now an associate member of the alliance’s Parliamentary Assembly, stood as a “beacon of human rights and democracy.”

“As we move closer to full NATO membership, we are reminded that the past, present, and future success of the Republic of Kosovo and NATO will remain inextricably linked,” Kurti said.