Serbia Mourns NATO Bombing Victims

Commemoration ceremony in Belgrade. Photo by Beta.

Several hundred people including top state officials gathered on Tuesday evening in front of the former Yugoslav Army headquarters, which was demolished during the bombardment, carrying Serbian flags and holding candles to pay tribute to those killed during the 78 days of air strikes.

The commemoration started with the Serbian national anthem, played symbolically at 7.58pm, the time at which the bombardment started, followed by a moment of silence.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia will never forget those 78 days or the people who died.

“Today, in their name, we remember every bomb, every death, every piece of shrapnel, siren, fire, [bombed] bridge and [NATO] stealth plane. We remember, and all others should remember, that the Serbian memory is long and that we will never forget – none of the 78 days, none of the victims,” Vucic told the commemoration.

He said that the only battle Serbia faces now is one for “a decent and a regulated country” and membership of the EU.

“Every factory that we create is our victory; every Serb that can work peacefully in Kosovo is our victory. Serbia in Europe is our victory,” Vucic said.

Serbian officials with Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik in front of the former Yugoslav Army headquarters. Photo by Beta.

As well as ministers, army officers, Serbian Orthodox Church and Belgrade city officials, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik also attended the commemoration.

Earlier on Tuesday, state officials including Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic laid flowers and wreaths in cities and towns across the country that were hit by air strikes.

Serbs in north Kosovo also held a memorial service in Mitrovica on Tuesday to mark the anniversary.

“Sixteen years ago, 19 NATO member countries started a war against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that claimed thousands of innocent victims, causing catastrophic destruction in the country,” said Mitrovic mayor Goran Rakic, according to Serbian news agency Tanjug.

A few hundred local Serbs meanwhile staged a protest walk from the bridge that divides Mitrovica into Serb and Albanian sectors to a former police building that was destroyed during the bombing in 1999.

During the 78 days of the NATO military campaign aimed at driving Slobodan Milosevic’s forces out of Kosovo, the Serbian government estimates that at least 2,500 people died and 12,500 were injured, but the exact death toll and the full extent of the damage remains unclear.

It is estimated that the bombing damaged 25,000 houses and apartment buildings and destroyed 470 kilometres of roads and 600 kilometres of railway.

So far only Serbia’s defence ministry has publicly revealed its data, saying that NATO forces killed 631 members of the Serbian armed forces, while a further 28 went missing.

NATO has also never revealed its losses.

The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was the West’s response to the failure of talks to try to bring an end to the conflict in Kosovo.

During the bombing, Yugoslav forces carried out an extensive campaign in Kosovo, resulting in the expulsion of the Kosovo Albanian population.

The Hague Tribunal charged Milosevic and six other top officials with committing war crimes in Kosovo, although the former leader died before a verdict was reached.

According to the Centre for Humanitarian Law in Belgrade, 758 people were killed during the period of the NATO bombing – 453 civilians, while the rest were members of Serbian forces and Kosovo Liberation Army fighters.

The bombing ended on June 10, 1999, after the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement and the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which was followed by the withdrawal of all Yugoslav military forces from Kosovo and the arrival of 36,000 international peacekeepers.

When Yugoslav forces moved out, the Kosovo Liberation Army drove the majority of Serbs out of Kosovo.

The Hague Tribunal has so far convicted six Serbian government, army and police officials of a systematic campaign of murder and persecution of Kosovo Albanians, sentencing them to prison terms ranging from 22 to 14 years.

Serbian courts are also staging several cases related to war crimes in Kosovo, focusing mainly on the direct perpetrators of the crimes rather than senior officials.

A new EU-backed special court is to be set up this year to try former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters for alleged crimes committed during and after the conflict.