 In 1992 he became Senator for the Italian Liberal Party (PLI), and was appointed as chairman of the Committee for European Affairs of the Senate.Re-elected in 1994 for Forza Italia, during the XII Legislature, Scognamiglio was elected as President of Senate.In 1998 he joined the project of former President Francesco Cossiga, the Democratic Union for the Republic, and was Minister of Defense from 21 October 1998 to 22 December 1999, covering the NATO's intervention in Kosovo (March–June 1999).