28.03.2019.
Minister Vulin: In 1999, they tried to kill Serbia, but killed international law
”They tried to kill Serbia in 1999, but they killed the international law. Twenty years later, Serbia is standing tall, Serbia has recovered, but international law has not. International law is dead, just as it was dead in 1999, when without the decision of the Security Council 19 mighty countries gathered in the most powerful alliance on the planet, bombarded one sovereign and free country. Serbia survived thanks to her armed forces, her police and her people,” Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin said at the opening of the round table “NATO aggression – causes and consequences” which started today at the Houses of the Guards at Topčider.
“International law has died. It has died surely and permanently. Since 1999, the Great Powers no longer have any need to explain their actions by any legal acts – force is sufficient,” Minister Vulin said, pointing to the consequences of this, that separatism and terrorism have began to flourish and that the world has not been the same afterwards.“The world has irrevocably changed and as always when you reach for force and crime, you do not know where this will take you. One of the consequences of the NATO aggression was also the awakening of the world. Until this point, the self-secure and calm forces – Russia and China, confident and convinced, just like most of us, that all the greatest human values dwell and reside in the West, realized that the world they wanted to belong to was not the world they imagined and desired.
One of the consequences of the NATO aggression was the creation of a multipolar world – in self-defense and wishing 1999 would never repeat,” said the Minister of Defense. Minister Vulin pointed out that until 2012 nobody dared to even call this horrific terror that befell our country by its real name. “Two decades later, the Serbs are proud of each of their officers, soldiers and warriors and every person that lived in Serbia in 1999. We can rightly remember and draw conclusions and lessons in preparation for the future. Neither in 1999, nor 20 years later, do the Serbian people have any reason to bow their heads to anyone, to be ashamed. But we have every reason to ask the big and powerful how many decades will have to pass for them to admit to the crime they committed,” stressed Minister Vulin at the end of his address, communicating to the audience that today’s gathering was an opportunity to preserve the memory of all those brilliant and brave people who are no longer with us.At the opening of the meeting, the Rector of the University of Defense, Major General Goran Radovanović, pointed out that the round table was an opportunity to proudly remember the time of unwavering will and courage in the defense of the homeland. “Our constant responsibility for future generations, and our historical obligation towards the innocent victims, is never to be forgotten,” said General Radovanović.
Retired Major General, Božidar Delić, who was the commander of 549 Motorized Brigade of the YA in 1999, said that “it is extremely important that after all this time, we have finally began to talk about the heroic struggle of our armed forces, the police and our entire nation.”
“Today we are talking about the experiences that we gained in 1999 defending the country from the NATO aggression. I hope that the conclusions from this meeting will find place in coursebooks at our military academies,” said General Ljubiša Diković, commander of 37 Motorized Brigade of YA in 1999.
