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.