ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – “Serbia must accept a future without Kosovo” U.S. General Wesley Clark stated this Thursday on ABC News. The former military leader who spearheaded the 1999 large-scale bombing campaign against Serbia expressed pride in the operation he had commanded, which he claims “brought peace to Kosovo”: “25 years later, the region is largely at peace. I am proud of the people in this region who have achieved this extraordinary outcome”.
“These remarks are deeply hurtful to Serbia, particularly to the Serbian Christian minority in Kosovo which remains oppressed by the Muslim Albanian majority – Serbiàs Government Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy affirms -. Deprived of rights, treated as second-class citizens, Kosovòs Christians live secluded in ghettos, venturing out only at great personal risk, and are occasionally subjected to violent pogroms. From a population of 250,000 in 1999, Kosovòs Serbs now number fewer than 100,000 and the pressure against them continues to mount”.
French humanitarian and founder of the NGO Solidaritè Kosovo, Arnaud Gouillon, who is now serving as Director of the Serbiàs Government Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy, has strongly denounced the American General’s remarks: “I fail to see what General Clark can be proud of. For 78 days, NATO, in blatant disregard for international law and the UN, rained bombs down on Serbia, relentlessly targeting civilian infrastructure such as markets and residential areas. The humanitarian situation in Kosovo has been devastating.”
In July 1999, then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented an official report to the Security Council, stating: “NATO airstrikes caused numerous civilian casualties, and the extensive destruction and significant damage to infrastructure and means of production had a devastating impact on industry, employment, the environment, essential services, and agriculture. Among the most vulnerable and overlooked victims are over 500,000 Serbian refugees from the various Yugoslav conflicts from the past. The crisis in Kosovo resulted in the massive, forced displacement and expulsion of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the systematic destruction of property and livelihoods, lawlessness and senseless violence, thousands of confirmed murders, countless unexplained deaths, and untold suffering (…) Regions visited by the Mission in Kosovo witnessed a spree of killings, arson, looting, forced expulsions, violence, revenge attacks, and terror.”
To this day, Serbian Christians in Kosovo remain targets of harassment and violence aimed at their final eradication. Their survival hinges solely on the fragile ties they maintain with Belgrade.
“As Serbia is drawing closer to the EU, as the West is facing strained relations with Russia, and as the United States inaugurates a new president who is expected to address ongoing conflicts, General Wesley Clark’s comments unnecessarily reopen old wounds,” Arnaud Gouillon has emphasised. “These remarks are shocking and irresponsible. Must we really let Kosovòs Serbs perish in order to satisfy the lingering objectives of certain neo-conservatives? Should we remain silent in the face of statements by a former military leader who now acts as a kind of lobbyist for extremist Albanian fractions in Kosovo?”.
– Photo Serbiàs Government Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy –
(ITALPRESS).
