BELGRADE — Ivica Dačić says a former German chancellor’s statement about NATO’s attack on Serbia being in violation of international law confirms that it was aggression.
The outgoing prime minister and leader of the SPS party also said on Tuesday said Gerhard Schroeder’s statement, made recently in the context of the Ukraine crisis, “has no legal significance for Serbia, except that it confirms what Serbia always said – that the (1999) bombing was aggression rather than a peacekeeping intervention.”
Dačić, asked by reporters to comment on Schroeder’s statement, added that it was clear to everyone around the world that NATO’s military intervention against Serbia had nothing to do with the legal system and international regulations.
“The bombing of Serbia was carried out without the authorization of the UN Security Council. Later, there was a recognition of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and the whole process went completely outside of international law,” said Dačić.
He pointed out that the current situation in Ukraine, in particular when it comes to Crimea, but also in other parts of the world “where similar scenarios occur,” always leads to analogies with Kosovo.
“Everyone will bring up the question of Kosovo, because when principles are violated once, as in the example of Kosovo, why not violate them again when it comes to some other examples,” Dačić said.
According to him, “once this issue comes before every country, everyone will remember Serbia’s arguments, but, unfortunately, this does not mean much to Serbia because we continue to have that problem.”
“I just wonder how some political parties in Serbia who said that (Slobodan) Milošević was to blame for the bombing will react now,” Dačić said.
He added that he felt “no pleasure because of Schroeder’s statement.” Instead, Dačić revealed he felt “even greater antipathy towards such acts – especially toward the explanation that it was a humanitarian intervention.”
