Serbia to not join NATO, President Vucic recalls bloc’s aggression against it in 1999 war

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic stated on Monday during an election rally that his country will not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) because it can not forget the children who were killed in the conflict in 1999 when NATO bombarded the former Yugoslavia. He stated that it is their responsibility to forgive and not to forget and they can't forget the children who died in 1999. As per the reports of TASS, he further stated that they shall become more powerful than they were when the reckless and arrogant NATO bombed them.

Earlier he stated that Serbia will not join NATO's military alliance and will instead defend its own terrain and airspace. The President claimed that they have enough soldiers to protect their children and future generations. Vucic has been President of Serbia since 2017 and is seeking re-election to a second term, which would be his final under the Constitution.

Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia

Russia has opposed NATO expansion and blamed it for the conflict in Ukraine that began last month. Moscow is especially opposed to Serbia joining NATO since the two nations share historical Slavic ethnic links and Eastern Orthodox Christian faith. North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania, all in the Western Balkans, have supported European Union and US sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict. However, Serbia has stated that it supports Ukraine's territorial integrity but has decided not to impose sanctions.

The Serbian President earlier said that if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemns NATO's bombing operation against Serbia in 1999, he will condemn Russia, according to Euractiv. He further said that they are a small country and do not want to rule out the prospect of maintaining connections with other countries, and they have no say in Ukraine's fate.

NATO's war against Yugoslavia in 1999

On March 24, 1999, jets from NATO, led by the United Stated start attacking Serbian military sites in the former Yugoslavia. A total of 1,000 aircraft were sent from bases in Italy and Germany, as well as the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier stationed in the Adriatic Sea. NATO's war against Yugoslavia lasted 78 days in 1999 and the bombardments killed between 3,500 and 4,000 people, according to various estimates, and injured about 10,000 people.

Image: AP