BELGRADE, March 25. /TASS/. NATO should answer for the aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, speaking at commemorative events marking the 24th anniversary of NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.
"It's been 24 years since you tore our territory apart, killed 79 children, 2,500 citizens, not only civilians, but also soldiers and policemen. Who are you to kill our soldiers and policemen on your own territory and in your own country? Where did you get the right to kill our soldiers and our policemen? Who gave you this right?" the head of state said.
"You did not prevent any humanitarian disaster. You have armed rebel groups in one free and sovereign country, which did not set foot on the territory of another country," Vucic pointed out.
The Serbian president also stated that the Republic will forget about the NATO aggression in 1999 only when all the Serbs are exterminated.
Serbia commemorates 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.