The Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, stated today that Republika Srpska stands in solidarity with the families of the victims of the brutal and unjustified NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which began on this day in 1999. He emphasized his deep conviction that the Serb people must maintain a policy of neutrality and refrain from joining any military alliance.
“We are a small nation and do not have the luxury of sending our children to fight wars for someone else’s interests, whoever that may be. We must be guided by the interest of our own people, and our interest is neutrality,” Višković emphasized.
According to him, Serbs, as a people, have the strength to forgive, but not to forget.
“We neither can nor should forget,” Višković told Srna.
He pointed out that the entire Serb national body, including the people of Republika Srpska who in 1995 personally experienced what it means to have NATO ‘delivering justice’, must continue to nurture a strong culture of remembrance for the suffering endured during the NATO aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
“Every one of our children must learn in school what happened to this country in 1999 and how the NATO attack created the conditions for the seizure of the holiest part of our land. What occurred was a precedent—the attack on a sovereign country without the approval of the UN Security Council, violating its right to defend its territory and constitutional order,” the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska stressed.
Precisely because of the families of the victims, Višković concluded, Republika Srpska has no right to even entertain the idea of the Serb people joining any military alliance whose core purpose is confrontation with other major powers.
NATO began its aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999. It lasted for 78 days, during which 1,031 members of the military and police were killed, along with around 2,500 civilians, including 89 children.
Over the course of the 11-week aggression, hardly a city in Serbia was spared from attack. NATO conducted 2,300 airstrikes and dropped 22,000 tons of munitions, including 37,000 banned cluster bombs and munitions containing depleted uranium.
In its effort to separate the southern Serbian province from the rest of Serbia, NATO violated the UN Charter and its own founding act, which defines it as a defensive alliance, thus severely breaching international law.
Source: RTRS
