Schroeder's statement proves bombing was aggression

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic stated on Tuesday that the statement by Gerhard Schroeder, former chancellor of Germany, that the 1999 air campaign against Serbia constituted a violation of international law has no legal significance for Serbia except that it proves what Serbia has always claimed - that the bombing was an aggression rather than a peacekeeping operation.

Dacic told reporters that everyone around the world had it clear that NATO's military operation against Serbia is everything but in line with international legal order and regulations.

The air campaign against Serbia was carried out without the approval of the UN Security Council. This was followed by recognitions of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, and everything went beyond the framework of international law, Dacic said.

He said that analogy with Kosovo always tends to be made in situations such as the current one in Ukraine, particularly Crimea, and other similar scenarios in other parts of the world.

If the principles were broken once, as it was the case with Kosovo, why not break them again, Dacic said.

Dacic underlined that Schroeder's statement does not bring any satisfaction, but rather bitterness over the “(1999) humanitarian intervention”.

Photo Tanjug Video, camera operator Slobodan Spanic