Operation Libelle ("Dragonfly" in German) was an evacuation operation of the German Armed Forces that took place on March 14, 1997 in the Albanian capital of Tirana during the Albanian unrest of 1997. In the same week, American, British, and Italian military forces evacuated their citizens from Albania. Operation Libelle was the first time since World War II that German infantry fired shots in combat.

Situation in Albania

In March 1997 several Western states evacuated their citizens. Operation Libelle was launched after a fraudulent pyramid scheme collapsed and a significant number of Albanian citizens lost their life savings. As a consequence, an armed rebellion took hold in large parts of Albania, and the Albanian government lost control. The crisis eventually culminated in the 1997 Albanian civil unrest. After the Military of Albania and police armories were looted by insurgents, criminals, and civilians, large parts of the country descended into chaos and violence.

Legal basis

The Federal Republic of Germany relied on the recognized doctrine "right to rescue nationals". There have been allegations, that this doctrine of international law suffers from insufficient State practice. Because of the urgency that arose when in March 1997 German citizens barricaded themselves in the German Embassy in Tirana, Albania, the executive of the German government did not seek parliamentary approval, which was required according to the German Federal Constitutional Court. In a judgement from 1994, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that any foreign deployment of German military personnel for combat or peacekeeping requires the consent of the Bundestag, that is the German federal parliament.

Timeline

March 13 March 14

List of evacuated persons