BELGRADE, March 25. /TASS/. The West suggests that the Serbian people forget about NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia and use the loans issued to restore the consequences of those bombings, President of Republika Srpska (one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's entities) Milorad Dodik said at a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the start of NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.

"They came here, offered us their loans to rebuild the bridges they’ve destroyed, the roads, the railroads, the schools, the television they bombed. We couldn't get back the children they lost and the innocent people who defended our country. I can't trust them and never will," Dodik stressed.

"They come to us and tell us that we must forget everything, move on. They have to understand that the Serbian people are made up of both the living and the dead, as well as those who are just born. Our responsibility to those who will follow us is to act honestly today and never forget what they did to us," the president of Republika Srpska said, "I will never bow to them again, never think that they are good. They bring us only evil, and there is nothing good from their side. The European Union, which we believed in, [thought] it was the place to go. They told us so much that we should decide to join the EU, but today they only give us ultimatums. We don't want a Europe of ultimatums, this is not the Europe we want to live in."

Serbia is marking the 24th anniversary of NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia. This year's central commemorative event takes place in Sombor, where the first bomb fell in 1999 and the first Serbian citizen died. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Republika Srpska, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije and thousands of citizens were participants in the rally and spectators of the theatrical performance in Sombor.

NATO's aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began on March 24, 1999 and lasted 78 days. The main reason for the NATO offensive operation ‘Allied Force’ was to prevent the genocide of the Albanian population in Kosovo. According to NATO, during the operation, the aviation of NATO countries has made 38,000 military flights, with over 10,000 of them aimed at delivering bombs.

According to Serbian information, as a result of the bombing, 3,500 to 4,000 people were killed and about 10,000 injured, two-thirds of whom were civilians. Material damage amounted to 100 billion dollars. During the three months of bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO, 15 tons of depleted uranium had been dropped in shells on the territory of Serbia. During the first ten years after the bombings, 30,000 people contracted cancer, 10,000 to 18,000 of whom died.

 

Republika Srpska and West

 

The government of Republika Srpska decided on March 23 to suspend contacts with the US and British embassies. The republic stressed that the cessation of cooperation would last until the US and British embassies stop the practice of interfering in domestic affairs of Republika Srpska. Dodik noted that such a decision was "forced by the American and British sides," which did not sign the Dayton Agreement, but openly supported the high representative appointed illegally and without a decision of the UN Security Council.

Republika Srpska also declared its readiness to declare independence due to the plans of UN High Representative Christian Schmidt to adopt a new property law, which implies the transfer of real estate used by the Republika Srpska government, as well as local governments and enterprises to Bosnia and Herzegovina.