Serbia pledges never to forget ‘NATO aggression’ — RT World News
Aleksandar Vucic was marking the 24th anniversary of the bloc’s bombing campaign, which killed thousands
The Serbs can only forget the “aggression” unleashed by NATO led by the United States in 1999 if their country ceases to exist, President Aleksandar Vucic warned on Friday. It marked the 24th anniversary of the former Yugoslavia military bloc’s bombing campaign.
Vucic added that the United States and its allies have yet to answer for their attacks, carried out in violation of international law. His speech comes at a time when Belgrade is under pressure from Western countries over its ties with Russia.
Speaking at a ceremony in the northern town of Sombor to commemorate the victims of deadly airstrikes that claimed the lives of thousands of Serbs, Vucic said the NATO aggression marked the moment when “the modern international law is finally dead”.
“24 years have passed. You have taken away parts of our territory. You killed 79 children, 2,500 people and not only civilians, but also soldiers and police,” the Serbian president said. “Who are you to kill our soldiers and policemen who are on their territory and in their country? Where did you have the right to kill our soldiers and our policemen? Who gave you this right?
Vucic recalled that the US-led military bloc had attacked a “free and sovereign country” while justifying the move by saying it had to stop the “genocide”. Belgrade was then engaged in a civil war with ethnic Albanian separatists, following other post-Yugoslavian conflicts in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia.
He also recalled that NATO had not obtained authorization from the UN Security Council to launch the military intervention, but had continued with it anyway.
According to the Serbian leader, NATO “led the aggression” for two reasons. First, they wanted to show that “we are the strongest and we can do anything” and second, “to take (the provinces) of Kosovo and Metohija” away from Serbia, he said.
Vucic went on to say that Serbia’s duty is ‘to try to forgive’ but it can only forget everything if it ceases to exist.
RT
