Tanjug News Agency
March 24, 2023

“The goal was set earlier and Serbia was attacked”; “Then, Kissinger said…”

Foreign Affairs Minister at the time of NATO aggression Živadin Jovanović stated the goal of that aggression wasn’t to resolve humanitarian or political issues.

According to him, the goal was to seize part of the territory of Serbia, and the decision was made much earlier.

As he told Tanjug on the occasion of the anniversary of the NATO aggression, the attack of the North Atlantic Alliance aimed to get NATO a permanent base in the Balkans in order to implement the expansion strategy to the east.

“After the aggression against the FRY and the establishment of the Bondsteel military base, the USA and NATO established three military bases each in Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, the Baltic republics. Europe entered the process of militarization and adaptation to the needs of the war. This was the trigger for the militarization of overall relations in Europe”, believes Jovanović.

He said that the goals of the aggression continue to this day, and are reflected, as he says, in the most radical demands that Serbia give up Kosovo and Metohija and accept the ultimatum as an agreement.

“This causes concern not only in Serbia, but also in its surroundings, because nothing imposed can be treated as an agreement, regardless of the form. My deep conviction is that peace and stability in the Balkans cannot be built by new agreements outside of international law and outside the UN Charter, contrary to Resolution 1244, as a permanently valid document, and to the detriment of Serbia,” said Jovanović.

He points out that the aggression was carried out in direct violation of the UN Charter, the Founding Act of the NATO alliance from 1949 and the constitutions of the NATO member countries, because none of them sought approval from their parliament to enter the war against the FRY, and that it was started, as he states, with false accusations of mass human rights violations, desertions, crimes, the concentration of civilians at the stadium in Pristina, the massacre in Racak, the negotiations in Rambouillet.

“Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, said that Rambouillet is such a shameful document that it should never have seen the light of day, and that no government in the world that values dignity and reputation would accept it,” said Jovanović.

He adds that the aggression caused the most harm to Serbia, its people and economy, but it destabilized the entire continent, from which Europe has not recovered to this day.

Drawing a parallel with the war in Ukraine, Jovanovic says that the famous German politician Willy Wimmer said last March that the first bombs fell on Ukraine in 1999.

“That is his conclusion that the security system in Europe collapsed at that time, that the door was open to conflicts and the foundations of the European architecture of security and cooperation were threatened. It is very symptomatic and a new phenomenon that NATO refers to the UN Charter in the conflict in Ukraine, and arrogantly says that it is pointless to remind that NATO was the first to bring war to European soil since the Second World War and that it was the first to violate the UN Charter and all the basic principles of international relations,” says Jovanović.

Speaking about the war in Ukraine, he said that such big mistakes of others are not a justification for making new mistakes and added that solving the war in Ukraine will be a little easier if the principle of equal security and the right to peace for all countries and peoples is accepted.

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Tanjug News Agency
March 24, 2023

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

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.