Interview: Admiral Elmar Schmeling, former head of NATO Counter-Intelligence Service
The unprecedented European media hysteria against the “terrible Serbs” began in 1999, together with the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Among the few who stood behind those who were bombed was German Admiral Elmar Ludwig Schmeling, the former Head of the German intelligence service and later Head of the Intelligence Service of NATO.
Though at that time he was retired, Schmeling’s authority was sufficient that his words echoed throughout Germany: “I am ashamed as a man and as an officer, because my country for the third time in this century is attacking small Serbia!”
Admiral Schmeling was in Belgrade again last weekend to mark the 15th anniversary of the aggression against Yugoslavia.
In April 1999, you debunked the media’s NATO myth about the humanitarian NATO intervention in Yugoslavia with the purpose of saving endangered Albanians.
Yes, I pointed out that the claims made by Rudolf Scharping, the former defense minister of Germany, about the genocidal Serbian war plan known as “Potkova” (Horse shoe), which was aimed at expelling Albanians from Kosovo, is a lie. Simply, such a word does not exist in the Serbian language, and it is obvious that it came from NATO. Also, I pointed out to the public about the official documents Berlin had, namely the document of the Federal Office for the verification of refugees from March 1999. It was clearly stated that there is no national program in Yugoslavia to expel people from Kosovo. Refugees and the humanitarian crisis in the province began when NATO bombs started to fall and that is the only truth.
At the time when you “supported” the Serbs, you were not a NATO admiral for nine years. You were retired.
I was not retired because it was “time for retirement”, but did according to the discretionary rights authorities in Germany had to retire officers whose position they were not pleased with. Specifically, after the reunification of Germany, I loudly pointed out at the changing structure and policies of NATO. After the unification of Germany, NATO started adopting a more aggressive doctrine and strategy. Until the reunification of Germany, NATO was a defensive military alliance, which became aggressive afterwards. This coincides with the beginning of the war in the former Yugoslavia, in which NATO and Germany actively interfered.
Immediately after the bombing in July, you came to visit Yugoslavia. What did you see?
Although I am a trained professional soldier, I was shocked at the level of destruction of your country and the goals that were targeted. Two crimes were committed in one against the Serbs. Firstly, bombs were thrown and, secondly, the use of unreasonably large amounts of prohibited ammunition containing depleted uranium, along with an incredible number of dropped cluster bombs.
As soon as you returned to Germany, you filed criminal complaints against Scharping, Fischer and Schroeder at the Federal Court, because they “violated Article 80 of the state law,” which prohibits the German army from using aggression in wars. How did it end?
The lawsuit was not even taken into consideration. However, in Berlin we established a “European tribunal for Peace”. Many intellectual people in Europe, around the world participated in the work of the tribunal, and this court symbolically condemned the German leaders for the bombing of Serbia. Justice and international law were killed by the bombing of your small independent country in 1999 without the decision of the UN Security Council.
