Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic laid a wreath at the “Glasnik” memorial on the Straževica hill in Rakovica on the occasion of the 15th anniversary when the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia began.
“A nation that forgets its victims and its history is doomed to face the same history. We need to keep the memory of all those who have defended our country,” Dacic told reporters after laying the wreath. Dacic said that the international community will be discussing the legal framework for the bombing of Yugoslavia this year, more than in 1999.
“Today, Serbia is waging a policy that attempts to amicably resolve all the problems and God forbid that such things happen ever again,” said Dacic .
Wreaths were laid at the monument by the Serbian Parliamentary Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic and the families members of those who were killed by the 210 Battalion of the Yugoslav Army. After the national anthem and a minute of silence, father Nenad Djurdjevic held a memorial service for the fallen soldiers, officers and all victims of the NATO bombing in 1999.
Belgrade authorities marked the 15th anniversary of the NATO aggression against the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) by laying wreaths at the monument for the victims of the bombing in 1999 and the memorial service at St. Marko church.
Members of the interim authority of Belgrade, Andreja Mladenovic, laid a wreath before the “Zasto”(Why) monument in Tašmajdan park, which is dedicated to the 16 employees from Radio Television Serbia, who were killed by NATO missiles on 23 April 1999.
NATO used weapons with depleted uranium
During the bombing of FRY in 1999, NATO used depleted uranium munitions, according to the Agency for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety of Serbia. The presence of depleted uranium in the environment that remains after the NATO air forces attacks on the territory of Serbia, was confirmed in the region of Vranje, according to a statement by the Agency.
Therefore, the Yugoslav Army marked those locations as contaminated areas, and in the period between 2002 to 2007 the field was cleaned. Detailed control and decontamination was performed at all locations; found missiles, contaminated soil, and all radioactive material was collected and stored in the “Nuclear Facilities of Serbia.”
Every year, to monitor radioactivity and assess the environmental and health risks to the population, the radioactivity of the decontaminated sites is controlled.
The Agency for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety of Serbia has no official data on the locations and measurements of radioactivity in Kosovo.
