Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said at the Assembly session today that 23 years ago the NATO intervention stopped the Serbian genocide in Kosovo. He thanked everyone who intervened to stop Serbs from committing crimes in Kosovo, Gazeta Express reports.
“23 years ago, NATO stopped a genocide; the second genocide in continental Europe. The 19 (NATO member) states reached a consensus to stop Milosevic, who had already committed genocide in Bosnia,” said Kurti. “NATO intervention was necessary; when violence began to take the form of a genocide, resistance was inevitable. While the American diplomatic efforts failed, children, men and women were being massacred every day in Kosovo. The atrocities committed by Serbs in late 1998 and early 1999 alarmed the international community. By spring 1999, 80 percent of Kosovars were deported, 20,000 women were raped, 12 thousand unarmed civilians were killed; 1,600 persons are still missing. And to date, there is no justice. 23 years after the war, our northern neighbor (Serbia) neither apologizes nor admits the crimes. Instead of identifying the perpetrators, they blame NATO for the bombings. Together with Russia, they are also misinterpreting the interventions in Ukraine. In Kosovo, it was a legitimate intervention because Milosevic was committing ethnic cleansing. We had the KLA on one side, and that made the internationals aware to support us. The defensive war in Ukraine is finding tremendous support from the West, just as we did back then. We have condemned the invasions of the Russian Federation. NATO and everyone must protect Ukraine. 24 March 1999 had brought hope but also suffering. Today we commemorate all the martyrs who fell for freedom. NATO put an end to Milosevic’s illusions.”
