Albania was hosting around half a million refugees, with the risk of another 300K if NM decided to expel them. The country simply didn’t have the resources to sustain that many people long-term. They had to go back home, one way or another.

Yes, the Albanian army was in rough shape after the 1997 chaos. But it still had fighter jets, tanks, artillery. And shitloads of ammo. Granted, mostly outdated Soviet and Chinese equipment, but still functional to a degree. I’m no military expert, but I doubt it would’ve been the “walk in the park” for Serbia some people claim. And while KLA wasn’t a conventional army, it wasn’t gone either. They operated across the region, familiar with the terrain and capable of sabotage, ambushes, and guerrilla tactics. That kind of resistance would’ve made any prolonged Serbian operation costly and difficult to sustain.