Jovanovic: NATO aggression was aimed at land-grabbing of Serbian territory

BELGRADE - The objective of the 1999 NATO aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was not a resolution of any humanitarian or political issue, but land-grabbing of Serbian territory, and the decision to go ahead with it had been made long before, says former Serbian diplomat Zivadin Jovanovic, who was FM of the FRY at the time.

In a statement to Tanjug on the 24th anniversary of the aggression, Jovanovic said the NATO strikes had been aimed at establishing a permanent NATO base in the Balkans as part of the alliance's strategy of expanding to the east.

"After the aggression on the FRY and the establishment of the Bondsteel military base, the US and NATO have set up three military bases in each of Bulgaria, Romania and Poland and in the Baltic republics. Europe embarked on a process of militarisation and adapting to war needs. That was the trigger to militarisation of overall relations in Europe," Jovanovic said.

The objectives of the aggression are being pursued to this day and are reflected in extremely radical demands that Serbia give up on Kosovo-Metohija and accept an ultimatum as an agreement, Jovanovic said.

"That is causing concern not only in Serbia, but also in the region, because nothing that has been imposed upon someone can be treated as an agreement, regardless of form. I deeply believe peace and stability in the Balkans cannot be built through new agreements outside of international law and the UN Charter, contrary to UNSCR 1244 as a permanently valid document, and to the detriment of Serbia," Jovanovic said.

He said the aggression had been a direct violation of the UN Charter, the 1949 NATO founding treaty and the constitutions of NATO member states, as none of them had requested permission from their parliaments to go to war against the FRY.

The aggression was begun with false accusations about mass human right violations, refugees, crimes, concentrations of civilians inside the Pristina stadium, a massacre at Racak and the Rambouillet talks, Jovanovic said.

Besides harming Serbia, its people and its economy the most, it also destabilised the entire continent, and Europe has still not recovered from that, he added.

Drawing a parallel with the Ukraine war, Jovanovic noted that German politician Willy Wiemer had said in March 2022 that the first bombs had hit Ukraine in 1999.

"His conclusion is that the security system in Europe was eroded at the time and that the door to conflicts was opened and the foundations of the European architecture of security and cooperation put under threat," Jovanovic said.

"NATO is invoking the UN Charter when it comes to the Ukraine conflict, while arrogantly saying that it is absurd to remind that it was the first to bring war to European soil since WWII and the first to violate the UN Charter and all fundamental principles of international relations," Jovanovic said.