I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Metropolitan Amfilohije
whom I got to know during my visits to Montenegro and later in Bel-
grade after the bombing. We became friends and he asked me to write
the foreword to the English edition of his book “Chronicles of the Re-
newed Crucifixion of Kosovo”. I was honoured to do so because the book
was desperately needed to be read, not only by Serbs, but more import-
antly, by non-Serbs who have been misled by the lies told by the NATO
countries about what really took place after the NATO forces entered
Kosovo. Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović was an outstanding man, a
brilliant scholar, an eminent statesman, a fierce and courageous defend-
er of his country and his Serbian Orthodox faith. As my tribute to this
great man, I hope that this foreword to his book may give the reader an
indication of his devotion to his faith and love of his native land.

* * *
The twentieth century has not been kind to Serbia or to the Serbian
people. Wars and suffering have plagued the nation for the best part
of the century. Yet it was not until the last decade – the 1990s – that
Serbia was caught up in events that were destined to bring the nation
to its knees, and threatened to break the proud spirit and heroism
of its people. In March 1999, the country was subjected to a massive,
78-day bombing campaign by the countries of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). Only Greece, Serbia’s traditional ally,
refused to participate in this illegal and outrageous act of aggression
by the so-called democratic nations of North America and Western
Europe.
The bombing was justified by the perpetrators on the grounds
of the alleged need to stop Serbia from committing genocide and
ethnic cleansing of its Albanian population in the Serbian province
of Kosovo and Metohija. It followed a highly organized public rela-
tions campaign to portray the Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević,
and the Serbian people as a whole, as murderous barbarians. In real-
ity, the bombing had nothing to do with “genocide” or “human rights
violations” in Kosovo and Metohija. Such trumped-up excuses were
used to demonstrate to an increasingly sceptical domestic audience
that NATO still had a vital role to play, despite the fall of the Berlin
Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Incredible as it may
seem, the propaganda machine of the NATO countries succeeded in
convincing a large segment of the global public opinion that the lies
told by NATO leaders were true.
The bombing restored NATO’s raison d’etre, but more signifi-
cantly, it had also established the precedent that NATO could inter-
vene militarily to resolve international disputes without obtaining
prior United Nations Security Council authorization. Once again,
great powers had achieved an important goal at the expense of the
destruction and demonizing of a smaller one – in this case, Serbia.
There remained one other goal to be achieved, and that was removing
Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia and handing that territory over to
the Albanians.
United Nations’ Resolution 1244 that had ended the conflict had
also reaffirmed Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo and Metohija. This
was an embarrassing obstacle that had to be overcome if Kosovo and
Metohija were to be given to the Albanians. The problem was solved
by simply ignoring the UN ruling and ensuring that the Serbian
population was forced to leave – a classic example of cynical power
politics in operation.
Some years later, in February 2008, under United States’ guid-
ance, the Albanian leaders in Priština unilaterally declared Kosovo’s
independence. The self-proclaimed state was immediately recogni-
zed by the United States and by most of the other NATO countries,
and thus the violation of Serbia’s sovereignty was brought to a new
level. Adding insult to injury, the United States has waged a power-
ful lobbying campaign urging other nations to recognize Kosovo’s
independence. Of the 193 UN member states as of 2014, there remain
86 countries that have refused to do so. Nevertheless, de facto in-
dependence seems to have been secured. What has been overlooked
is the price that has been paid for this violation of international law
and the United Nations Charter.
The price has not only been that NATO’s action in bombing
Serbia and violating its territorial integrity has broken the frame-
work of international peace and security that has existed since the
end of the Second World War, but it also has been done at a terrible
cost in human suffering and misery.
The bombing of Serbia itself was designed to destroy the econom-
ic infrastructure of the country. It was carried out without regard
to civilian casualties. Hospitals, bridges, passenger trains, television
stations, apartment blocks, tractor convoys of people fleeing the
bombs, market places during busy hours, they were all hit. Even the
Chinese embassy was targeted. Cluster bombs were commonly used
as anti-personnel weapons, and their existence continues to present
a threat to children to this day. Bombs and rockets containing de-
pleted uranium were also extensively used during the 78 days and
nights of the bombing campaign. Ironically, as was later disclosed