Serbia never to forget NATO bombing (Merciful Angel)

Serbia will maybe forgive, but will never forget the NATO bombing that took place in 1999, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.

Vucic made this statement at a commemoration for victims held in the town Varvarin where numerous civilians lost their lives in an airstrike.

The Day of Remembrance of Victims of the NATO bombing was marked with a ceremony in Varvarin where missiles fired by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization hit a bridge, killing 10 people and wounding 17 on May 30, 1999, with presence of government members, families of victims and several thousand citizens.

• Vucic said in his speech that the NATO campaign in Serbia, which started on March 24, 1999 and lasted for 78 days, was a "meaningless and unnecessary aggression of 19 powerful countries on Serbia, and a kind of slaughter that destroys everything and solves nothing".

• "Serbia will maybe forgive, but will never forget," Vucic said, stressing that the military operations of NATO member countries on Serbia caused numerous civilian victims and material damage.

Operation codenamed "Merciful Angel" was started by NATO after Serbian forces were alleged to have committed human rights abuses against ethnic Albanian civilian population which accounted for 90 percent majority in Kosovo, and the operation aimed at forcing the withdrawal of Serbian security forces from the province.

Outcome of the NATO campaign was the establishment of a caretaker UN mission in Kosovo, while in 2008 the province unilaterally declared Independence from Serbia and was recognized by majority of EU countries and the United States, but Serbia categorically refuses to recognize it since.

In his speech, Vucic said that Serbia today is on the same side as the 19 countries that attacked it, because it is determined to reconcile "in the best interest of our people and our future", but warned that "the night 17 years ago will be remembered forever in Serbia".

"Today, proud and upright, but with a sad and quiet voice, we clearly say -- You killed us, you killed our children, but you did not kill Serbia because it can't be killed," Vucic said, adding that sadness, regret and tears should not lead the county into anger and hatred.

"It is a sign of our strength and size. We found the strength to stand up, forgive, take a look at ourselves in the eyes and to change, to put the past to rest, and to give a chance to the future," said Vucic.

Earlier, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic laid wreaths in Belgrade in honor of 167 policemen who lost their lives during the bombing, while Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic visited the town of Prokuplje, where the first victim of the NATO campaign, soldier Boban Nedeljkovic was killed.

Djordjevic reminded that Serbian Army lost 659 soldiers during the bombing, of which 31 are regarded as missing.

It is estimated that 3,500 people in total were killed and 12,500 more wounded during the 78-day NATO attack on Yugoslavia.

The anniversary of the NATO operation was also observed in the Serb-dominated areas of northern Kosovo with a ceremony and laying wreaths for the victims of the bombing as well as those killed by militants in Kosovo.

A monument dedicated to the victims was uncovered in the town of Zvecan in northern Kosovo with the presence of the director of the Serbian government's office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric.
 [Xinhua]
25/3/16
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