This March 24 th Serbia marks the 17 th anniversary since the start of the
NATO military aggression on its (FRY) territory.
NATO 1999 aggression against Serbia (FRY) was a turning point in
world relations towards negating of the World order established after
Second World War, weakening of United Nations and International
Law, globalization of the interventionism, new arms race and West-East
confrontation. Nevertheless, multi-polarization of global world relations
is inevitable process based on the rising potentials and roles of Russia,
China, the BRICS and other independent countries. In this period of
profound global changes the danger and risks for peace and stability
come from those forces which have long enjoyed privileges in world
relations and which believe that it is possible to protect the privileges
using their military power. This kind of reasoning is misleading. The
only way to safeguard peace and stability today is in shared responsibil-
ity in solving all major international problems, return to respect of the
basic principles of International law, primarily, principle of sovereign
equality of nations, democratization instead of militarization of inter-
national relations, respect of the role of United Nations.
NATO aggression on Serbia (FRY) lasted 79 days and resulted in at
least 2,500 dead civilians, plus 1.008 dead soldiers and policemen and
more than 12,500 wounded. The aggression was conducted in alliance
with the terrorist KLA.
The attacks on Serbia started on March 24, 1999, and the last one
took place near Kosovska Kamenica on June 10 at 13:15 CET.
NATO has never disclosed its losses.
The list of civilians killed by NATO has not as yet been completed.
Civic Associations such as Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals, Gen-
erals and Admirals Club of Serbia, Veteran Association of Serbia, Serb-
ian Host Society, Association of Families of Missing and Abducted Per-
sons and others, have been repeatedly demanding competent authorities
to complete the list of civilian victims, but so far without results.
There is no record as to how many of wounded people died as a con-
sequence of injuries during aggression or unexploded cluster bombes
in the period after the end of bombing. It remains unknown also how
many persons have died in the past years as a consequence of depleted
uranium missiles used by NATO. On February 2 nd , 2001, the Federal
Government established special Committee, headed by the Federal
Minister Miodrag Kovac, mandated to “investigate long term conse-
quences of depleted uranium missiles on the health of people and on
natural environment. It never came to the public with its findings. Later
the Federation of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) was dissolved. It
is noteworthy to remind that former NATO Secretary General Xavier
Solana played key role in the process of separation of Montenegro from
Serbia.
The total economic damage was estimated in 1999 at 100 billions
of US dollars. Many civic associations have addressed initiative to the
competent Serbian authorities to demand war damage compensation
from NATO and governments of NATO member countries. The more
so that NATO leaders have publically recognized that NATO has vio-
lated international Law instigating aggression against Serbia (FRY).
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in his public address last year de-
clared that NATO is obliged to pay war compensation to Serbia. Many
scholars, International law specialists, public figures and politicians
from around the world, consider also that Serbia is entitled and should
demand war compensation. So far, the public received no information
about concrete steps undertaken by the Government.
The decision to attack Yugoslavia was the first in history to be made
without the approval of the UN Security Council, and the order was
given to U.S. General Wesley Clark, the allied commander at the time,
by NATO Secretary General Xavier Solana.
Later on, in his book “Waging Modern War”, Clark revealed that
the plans for the air strikes against Yugoslavia were well under way in
mid-June 1998 and completed in late August of that year.
Yugoslavia was attacked under the pretext of failure of the talks
on the future status of the southern Serbian province of Kosovo and
Metohija, held in Rambouillet and Paris in January and March 1999. In
fact, plans to launch military attacks on Serbia (FRY) were finalized al-
ready in August 1999, while so called Rambouillet and Paris negotiation
served as mere alibi to make the chosen victim responsible.
The 19-member Alliance launched projectiles from ships in the
Adriatic Sea and four military bases in Italy, all with the support of
strategic air bombers which took off from bases in Western Europe and
latter in the U.S. The first targets were barracks and air defense forces
in Batajnica, Mladenovac, Priština and other locations. NATO plan-
ners predictions were that they would finish with President Slobodan
Milosevic`s defense forces within a couple of days but those estimates
proved to be inaccurate. This prompted NATO to chang the tactics. Its
politicians and generals concluded that “in order to protect Alliance’s
credibility”, it was necessary to launch massive attacks on civilian tar-
gets, including cities, towns hospitals, schools, electricity transformers,
passenger trains…
There is practically no city in Yugoslavia which was not targeted on
a number of occasions during the 11-week aggression.
Thus, 50th anniversary of NATO`s foundation, celebrated at the
Washington Summit, was marked by a total war against small in-
dependent European country, in contravention of the basic principles
of international law. At the same time, it was the war against UN, OSCE
and Europe itself. It was precedent for ensuing wars in Afghanistan,
Iraq, Libya, Mali, Yemen, and Syria. Military interventionism has be-
come globalized and the world less secure. It was the start of militar-
ization of Europe and world relations in general. From 19 members at
the time of aggression on Serbia (FRY), NATO has become military
monster of 29 members and several dozen associated members through
so called Partnership for Peace and other forms of associations. USA
military bases have been mushrooming form South East and Central
Europe toward Russian borders. It is NATO strategy of expansion to-
wards East that led to Maiden tragic events and coup in Ukraine.
It was the tactics of financing, arming and training extremist and
terrorist forces, first applied in Kosovo and Metohija to destroy territor-
ial integrity and over through legitimate government in Serbia (FRY),
that later were used as a blueprint in Syria and elsewhere.
The bombing caused damage to 25,000 houses and apartment
buildings and destroyed 470 kilometers of roads and 595 kilometers of
railway tracks. A total of 14 airports were damaged, as well as 19 hos-
pitals, 20 healthcare centers, 18 kindergartens, 69 schools, 176 cultural
monuments and 44 bridges, while 38 more were completely destroyed.
During the campaign, 2,300 air attacks were carried out on 995 fa-
cilities around Serbia and 1,150 fighter jets fired nearly 420,000 missiles
to the total weight of 22,000 tons.
NATO fired 1,300 cruise missiles, dropped 37,000 cluster bombs.
Alliance’s forces also used banned depleted uranium missiles.
A third of the electric energy capacity of the country was destroyed,
two oil refineries, in Pančevo and Novi Sad, were bombed, and NATO
forces used for the first time so-called graphite bombs to disable elec-
trical power systems.
Facing mounting diplomatic pressure, NATO ended the bombing
with the signing of the Military Technical Agreement in Kumanovo
on June 9, 1999, and the latest missiles fell near Kosovska Kamenica on
June 10 at 13:30 CET.
The NATO secretary general issued an order to stop the bombing on
June 10, after which Yugoslav forces began to withdraw from Kosovo.
On that day, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1244, and
a total of 37,200 KFOR soldiers from 36 countries were sent to the prov-
ince, with a mission to preserve peace and security. Today, 17 years later,
there are about 5.000 KFOR soldiers in Kosovo and Metohija. EU Eulex
mission supervises police, judiciary and some other institutions.
About 250.000 of Serbs and other non-Albanians have been forced
out of Kosovo and Metohija since KFOR and UNMIK took over control
of this Serbian Province. Even 17 years later they have not been allowed
to safely return to their homes and estates. Great many of them still live
in so called Centers for collective shelter in suburbs of Belgrade, Nis,
Kraljevo, Kragujevac and other Serbian cities. Those who stayed in the
Province continue to be threatened, attacked, and even killed on a daily
basis by extremists.