The relationship between Serbia and Hungary went downhill in the 1990s, when Yugoslavia started to disintegrate. Hungary was one of the earliest supporters of newly independent Croatia, and was among the major participants in the NATO-led bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. This strained relations between the two countries, with Hungary also sharing concerns over its Hungarian population in Yugoslavia. Later, the relations continued to worsen, with Hungary being one of the earliest nations in the world to recognize Kosovo as an independent state.