Zakharova manipulates the facts about the NATO intervention in Kosovo

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has manipulated facts about NATO’s intervention in the Kosovo war.

What did Zakharova say?

“We are proud that the Serbs have the strength to resist the destructive tendencies of the West. The Serbs were not broken by the bombings, nor by the West’s systematic efforts over the next 25 years to forget what happened. Having survived a deep collective trauma, the Serbs maintained their identity and state stability. The tragic experience of the Serbian people teaches us how to fight for national dignity. This is exactly the term NATO and US leaders used to target civilian and military institutions in Yugoslavia, whose leadership had to fight for what was always important to them in order to preserve the country. Now the leadership of Serbia has no intention of following the policy of Western countries, has no intention of turning the page on NATO aggression and is determined not to forget the war crime committed against Yugoslavia in 1999.”

Analysis:

In March 1999, NATO launched an air campaign, Operation Allied Forces, to stop the humanitarian catastrophe that was unfolding in Kosovo at the time. The decision to intervene was followed by more than a year of internal fighting and the failure of international efforts to resolve the conflict by diplomatic means.

By the end of 1998, more than 300,000 Kosovars had fled their homes, various ceasefire agreements had been systematically violated and negotiations had stalled, making NATO intervention necessary to stop the ongoing ethnic cleansing.

NATO announced the suspension of air strikes on June 10 after reaching a military-technical agreement with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On the same day, UN Resolution 1244 welcomed the FRY’s acceptance of the principles of a political settlement, including an immediate end to violence and a rapid withdrawal of its military, police and paramilitary forces, and the establishment of an effective international civilian and security presence with significant NATO involvement.

Today, NATO, through KFOR, continues to play a key role in ensuring peace for all ethnic groups in Kosovo without distinction./The Geopost/