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Brnabic: 1999 bombing did not happen due to fault of Serbian citizens (Serbian Government, RTS, B92)

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today that Serbia is aware of the
mistakes it has made in the past but added that NATO bombing in 1999 was the
fault of others, not the citizens of Serbia.

Brnabic stressed at the conference "NATO aggression on the FR
Yugoslavia: 20 years after" that Serbia must not forget the victims of
that bombing, destroyed factories, bridges and devastated economy, but that it
has to try to forgive because it is the only way to realise its great
potential, to turn to the future, partnership and cooperation.

No one should criticise Serbia for faults. We are aware that we
made mistakes, but the bombing in 1999 was the fault of others, not of the
citizens of Serbia who at the end of the 20th century were the victims of those
with whom we fought for freedom and justice in two wars. For the future it
would be good for them to be aware of those mistakes, she underlined.

The Prime Minister has said that for the past 20 years we have been
trying to get an answer to the question of how a small country has become such
a big opponent of the most powerful forces, but also what the reasons for the
precedent are that a sovereign country can be attacked without a decision of
the UN Security Council.

According to Brnabic, Serbia will remain faithful to tradition and
history and will never forget the friends who stood with her in the most
difficult times, with special thanks to Russia and China.

We ended the conflict in which we were not equal with a destroyed
country. In Serbia, in 1999, we were all targets, irrespective of gender, age,
nationality, religion or political affinities, Brnabic recalled.

The Prime Minister said that the country will develop partnership
relations with those who took part in the bombing in 1999 and build bridges
with those that we do not even understand today, judging that this is the only
way to better.