ROME (ITALPRESS) – “Serbia must accept the future without Kosovo.” General Wesley Clark said this Thursday on ABC News. The former military leader who led a major bombing campaign against Serbia in 1999 was proud of the operation he was in charge of, and of which he says “brought peace to Kosovo- 25 years later, the region is largely at peace. I am proud of the people of the region, who have achieved this extraordinary result. “These comments are deeply painful for Serbia, especially for the Christian Serb minority in Kosovo, who remain oppressed by the Muslim Albanian majority,” reads a note from the Serbian government’s Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy. Deprived of rights, treated as second-class citizens, Kosovo’s Christians live imprisoned in ghettos, from which they emerge only at their own risk and are sometimes victims of violent pogroms. From a population of 250,000 in 1999, Kosovo Serbs today number less than 100,000, and the pressure against them continues to grow. “French humanitarian and founder of the NGO Solidaritè Kosovo Arnaud Gouillon, who currently serves as the Director of the Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Serbian government, strongly condemned the U.S. general’s statements, “I don’t see what General Clark has to be proud of. For 78 days NATO, in total disregard of international and UN laws, rained bombs on Serbia, mercilessly targeting civilian targets such as markets and residential areas. The humanitarian situation in Kosovo has been disastrous. “In July 1999, then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan submitted an official report to the Security Council, stating, “NATO airstrikes have caused numerous civilian deaths and injuries, and the massive damage to infrastructure and means of production has had a devastating impact on industry, employment, the environment, essential services and agriculture. Among the most vulnerable and neglected victims are more than 500,000 Serb refugees from the various past Yugoslav conflicts. The crisis in Kosovo has resulted in massive forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians, systemic destruction of property and livelihoods, anarchy and senseless violence, thousands of confirmed killings, countless unexplained deaths and unspeakable suffering (…) The regions where the Kosovo Mission went have been the scene of a series of murders, arson, looting, forced expulsions, violence, revenge attacks and terror.””In the present day, Christian Serbs in Kosovo remain targets of mistreatment and violence, with the ultimate goal of eradicating them completely. Their survival depends on the fragile ties they have with Belgrade,” continues the Serbian government’s Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy. “Considering that Serbia is moving closer to the EU, the West is experiencing a period of tension with Russia, and the U.S. is inaugurating a new president from whom it expects it will deal with ongoing conflicts, General Wesley Clark’s comments reopen old wounds without any need,” stressed Arnaud Gouillon, who continued: “These remarks are shocking and irresponsible. Should we really let the Kosovo Serbs die to satisfy the old goals of certain neo-conservatives? Should we remain silent in the face of the statements of a former military leader who now serves as a kind of lobbyist for Albanian extremist fractions in Kosovo?”
– Photo Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Serbian Government –
(ITALPRESS).
