All news

NATO’s 1999 aggression was turning point for int'l relations — Yugoslavian ex-top diplomat

Zivadin Jovanovic said the aggression was "a war with global goals"

BELDRADE, March 12. /TASS/. NATO’s 1999 aggression against Yugoslavia was a turning point for international relations, Former Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said during a video conference between Moscow and Belgrade, dubbed "The 20th Anniversary of NATO States’ Illegal Military Intervention in Sovereign Yugoslavia," broadcast from the Belgrade Media Center.

"NATO’s 1999 aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was not just a little war, it was a war with global goals. Even though 20 years have passed, it is still impossible to either justify it or to mitigate the responsibility of the aggressor countries and their governments. It was a turning point for global relations, staring from respect for the basic principles of international relations and United Nations declarations to globalization and interventionism. The interventionist process continued in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and many other parts of the planet," Jovanovic pointed out.

"It was a war Europe waged against itself. Bombs that fell in Serbia destroyed the agreements made in Potsdam, Tehran and Yalta. Those bombs also targeted the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the entire United Nations system. It was an attempt to destroy the world order created following World War II," the former Yugoslavian top diplomat added.

According to him, today, the West’s aggression against international law has taken other forms. Jovanovic said that cooperation with Russia could help find a way out of the situation. "We must continue to boost comprehensive cooperation and partnership between Serbia and Russia the way we did during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Belgrade," he said.

NATO bombing campaign

NATO launched a military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999. NATO leadership claimed that the operation, codenamed Allied Force, was aimed at preventing the genocide of the Albanian population of Kosovo. According to NATO, member states carried out 38,000 sorties during the 78-day-long operation, 10,000 of which were aimed at conducting air strikes.

According to military experts, about 3,000 cruise missiles were launched and 80,000 tonnes of various bombs were dropped during the operation, including cluster munitions and depleted uranium rounds. Petrochemical facilities and oil refineries were bombed, which led to the pollution of rivers with toxic chemicals. Serbia estimates that the NATO bombing campaign killed 3,500 to 4,000 people, leaving about 10,000 wounded, two-thirds of them civilians. The country’s damage is estimated at up to $100 bln.

Tags