Never forget! 1999–2024
International conference “From Aggression to a New, Fairer World Order” in Belgrad
Interview with Zivadin Jovanovic, President of the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals
(picture ma)
Current Concerns: 24 March 2024 marked the 25th anniversary of the start of the NATO war against the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). To mark the occasion, the Belgrade Forum and other organisations organised a major international conference under your leadership. What were the most important results for you?
Živadin Jovanović : We are really proud that about 200 friends from all the continents have gathered in Belgrade to once again condemn the illegal 1999 military aggression of NATO on Yugoslavia and pay their respects to more than 4,000 killed people including children. Participants of the Conference have sent strong appeal for ending of ongoing wars and defuse escalation before the whole humanity is absorbed into global nuclear conflict. In my opinion the most important result is Conference’s appeal to the world leaders to start strategic dialogue on stopping the conflicts and massive killings of people, concentrate on the roots and causes of ongoing wars. The other result is strong support to the new inclusive World Order based on sovereign equality of all countries and non-interference in internal affairs. This position is paired with firm opposition to the policy of expansion, domination and neo-colonialism. Our friends came from different cultures, races, religions, ideologies, even, from different civilisations, but there were no difficulties in reaching mutual understanding and consensus about the issues which were discussed.
Numerous foreign guests from all continents of the world took part or delivered lectures at the conference. What does their participation in your conference mean for Serbia and your concerns?
It means a lot. NATO armed aggression ended 25 years ago, but aggression by other means of political, economic, financial and propaganda character – continued throughout this period and since recently have been even intensified. Using UN SC’s mandate, NATO practically keeps Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija under occupation. Using EU, international financial organisations, mass-media and other instruments, leading NATO member countries – USA, GB, Germany and France – exert tremendous pressures, to oblige Serbia to recognize illegal, unilateral secession of its autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija. They want to create another Albanian state beside Albania itself, unite them in so called Greater Albania, thus expanding NATO. It is quite clear that behind rhetoric of defending democracy and human rights, stands NATO strategy of expansion. So, the participants of the Belgrade Conference have expressed their support and solidarity to Serbia to resist continued aggression, stay independent, neutral and pursue defending own sovereignty and territorial integrity based on the UN Charter, OSCE Helsinki Final Document, particularly, on the UN SC resolution 1244 (1999). Law, truth and justice make firm common ground.
We had the impression that your conference was more strongly supported by official Serbia than ever before in the past 25 years. Is this the case? How can this be explained and what does this support mean for the work of the Belgrade Forum?
Openness has been and remains one of the basic principles of the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals as independent, non-profit, non-partisan, voluntary association. Forum always keeps the public and the state institutions informed of our work and views on essential national and international issues. We are very satisfied that this time three Government ministers – defense Miloš Vučević, interior Bratislav Gašić and employment Nikola Selaković – have participated at our conference. One of them Mr. Milos Vucevic, in the meantime, has been nominated to be next Prime minister of Serbia.
Some fifteen years ago even the local government would hardly notice that the Belgrade Forum exists. We are satisfied with positive evolution showing that the present Government values what we have been doing over the past 25 years. Our program cantered on truth, justice and morality, our principles of voluntary engagement, equality, freedom and independence, as well as our worldwide friendship with so many organizations and renown persons, I believe, will be even better valued.
What support does your conference have among the Serbian population?
I think the Conference and the whole program of commemorative events – exhibitions, international review of the documentary films, international memorial marathon Belgrade Thessaloniki and other activities – have been widely supported in the public of Serbia. Similar commemoration events have been taking place all over the country. Belgrade Forum has been pioneer of these activities from the time when previous governments would not dare to pronounce “NATO aggression”. Members of our associations – Belgrade Forum, Serbian Generals and Admirals Club, Veterans Association SUBNOR and others – have been invited to public meetings, to holding lectures at schools and universities, talking on radio and TV stations. Serbian Diaspora all over the world has also been organising commemorations recalling thousands of innocent victims of NATO aggression. These activities will, most likely, continue, probably, until the end of the year.
In general, we stick to the principle – do what you think is right to do for your country and people, do it the best way you can and do not feel discouraged if it is not sufficient to meet all the needs. Also, doing this do not harm anybody else, always respect equality.
What was the feedback from the participants of the conference from abroad? Is there an international echo?
First, it is noteworthy to remind that many of our friends and associations all over the world, particularly in Europe, have been organising commemorative events of their own. Some of them came to Belgrade first, and then returned to their capitals to carry on own programs.
The feedback has been so far, very positive. Our friends have been expressing their satisfaction with the framework of the Conference “From Aggression to a New, Fairer World Order”, by democratic atmosphere, by what they have learned from the others and by constructive, principled content of the Belgrade Declaration. To many of participants Belgrade Conference looked like the world assembly of independent academicians, concentrated to identify the roots of the ongoing conflicts, of the looming danger of global catastrophe and to shed the light on the way out of the present European and global situation. The most of them were happy to have had opportunity to strengthen old friendships and establish new ones. Many of our guests had the possibility to pass their messages and ideas to Belgrade based national and international mass media, many of the domestic organisers to pass their views to the foreign mass media. We are still receiving comments, letters of thanks, gathering articles, interviews from China to Portugal and from Tierra del Fuego to Petersburg. I think the main, general, feedback that we keep getting is the will and readiness of all to engage in building peace, equality and prosperity for everybody, to avoid catastrophe of humanity.
What plans do you have for the future?
We plan to publish several books, including collection of speeches from the recent International Conference. We will continue projects on bibliography and collection of the books and publications on NATO aggression in as many languages as possible. Conferences, round tables, seminars for young researchers, international exchange will also be on our agenda.
Generally, we follow developments; make our assessments and try to find the way to air our views. We pay particular attention to strengthen cooperation with our partner associations from all the continents.
We are very happy with our decades long, fruitful cooperation with “Mut zur Ethik” which we will continue to mutual benefit.
Thank You for this interview. •
Statement of condemnation of the terror-attack in Moscow
Participants of the International Conference held in Belgrade 22 to 24 March 2024, on the occasion of marking the 25th anniversary of NATO’s armed aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
- Condemn in strongest terms the heinous, bestial and provocative terrorist attack in Moscow that killed so many innocent people, and express belief that the perpetrators will be quickly apprehended and brought to justice.
- At the same time, express their deepest condolences to the families of the killed and the injured ones, to the citizens of Moscow, and to the entire Russian people, in the moment of their pain and huge grief.
- Call for a determined and coordinated combatting terrorism as a global danger that threatens all the peoples of the world.
Source: https://www.beoforum.rs/en/
A global popular assembly
ef. On 24 March 1999, NATO launched its first war of aggression in violation of international law. It was directed against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). NATO’s bombs and cruise missiles destroyed not only this small European country, but also the European and global security system based on the UN Charter (1945), the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Final Act (Helsinki 1975), and the Charter of Paris (1990). To this day, people are still suffering from the severe consequences of this destruction – and not only in Serbia.
For 25 years, the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals has commemorated 24 March as the day in 1999 when the aggression of the NATO alliance against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began. It honours the fallen defenders of the country and the civilians who were killed.
This year, from 22 to 24 March, the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals, under the proven leadership of its president Živadin Jovanović, organised an international conference in Belgrade to mark the 25th anniversary. Participants from 29 countries and from all continents gathered at the conference. Over 30 presentations were held, and numerous documentary films about the war of aggression were screened in the evening.
The conference was opened with contributions from three ministers of the Serbian government: Defence Minister Miloš Vučević, Interior Minister Bratislav Gašić, and Labour Minister Nikola Selaković. Far more dignitaries were in attendance than in previous years. On this, its 25th anniversary, the Belgrade Forum’s desire to ensure that the war is not forgotten was recognised at state level.
With regard to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the various speakers once again made it clear that the NATO war of aggression against Yugoslavia set the precedent for the wars to come: The change of NATO from a defensive alliance to an offensive alliance, practically overnight; the application of international law à la carte; the lies and falsehoods of the negotiation staging before the war; the unspeakable role of the mainstream media; the unprecedented levels of PR propaganda. As in past years, participants were informed of the extent and consequences of the bombings for the people and the country, especially through the documentary films, and also how a country is plagued and driven to war for geopolitical and financial reasons – in short, by the machinations of power-politics.
The open, honest, and equal dialogue in the contributions and in the discussions among the participants, which characterised the entire conference, left the impression of a global popular assembly. This is what it can be like when people – for whom peace, freedom, and justice for all is truly a concern – come together from all over the world.
The Belgrade Declaration
Never forget! 1999–2024
Belgrade, 23. März 2024
We, participants of the International Conference held in Belgrade on 22 to 24 March 2024, on the occasion of marking the 25th anniversary of NATO’s armed aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (Serbia and Montenegro) dedicated to the theme “From Aggression to a New, Fairer World Order”, gathered from all over the world, hereby declare:
We belong to different countries, nations, ideologies, religions and civilisations, but stand firmly united in our commitment to peace, equality, and prosperity for all peoples, as well as in our condemnation of interventionism, expansion, domination, and hegemonism.
We firmly condemn the unprovoked armed aggression by NATO against the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro) in 1999 as an unlawful, invading and criminal war against a sovereign, peace-loving European country, waged devoid of a UN Security Council mandate, in blatant violation of the United Nations Charter, the CSCE Helsinki Final Act (1975) and the fundamental principles of international law.
We underline:
That the aggression was carried out under false pretexts and that therefore NATO’s responsibility cannot be diminished. It was not state authorities but, instead NATO’s expansionism that actually threatened a “humanitarian disaster”. What happened in Rachak was not a “massacre of civilians”, but instead legitimate response of the state to terrorism. The “Horseshoe Plan” did not exist. “Humanitarian” wars or interventions do not exist. Prevention of human suffering can hardly be achieved by destruction of homes and hospitals, use of depleted uranium and cluster bombs, by poisoning air, soil and water.
Back in 1999, NATO reintroduced the war on the European soil, ironically, a war that Europe waged on itself.
It was neither a “little Kosovo war”, but rather a war of these geopolitical goals:
- carving the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija out of Serbia and a full control over the Balkans;
- deployment of the US troops in the Balkans for the purposes of the strategy of Eastward expansion;
- creating a precedent for subsequent interventions conducted in violation of international law and of the inviolability of the UN Security Council;
- justifying the existence of NATO and its acting beyond the area defined in its Founding Act of 1949. “Wherever the law presented obstacle to the policy of expansion, it must be removed” – was yet another NATO new rule.
The NATO aggression embodied the undoing of the legal order of peace and security in Europe and the world, established on the outcome of the Second World War. Today, the Balkans is more unstable, Europe militarised on dangerous tracks, without autonomy, identity and vision.
The aggression took lives of 1,139 soldiers and police officers, about 3,000 civilians also including 89 children, while some 10,000 people were wounded. However, the consequences of prolonged effects of weapons filled with depleted uranium and toxic compounds are by far greater.
NATO, also, bombed the Embassy of the PR of China, in Belgrade, killing three Chinese journalists and destroying the building of the Chinese Embassy.
We pay our highest respect to all the fallen innocent people and express our deepest, sincere condolences to their families.
The aggressor had been systematically destroying or badly damaging civilian infrastructure, such as railways, roads, bridges, airports, energy system, as well as apartment buildings, industrial facilities, schools, hospitals, kindergartens, and many more objects. Over thirty radio and TV stations and transmitters had been bombed including the national public TV RTS killing 16 professional employees on duty. The direct damage totals some USD 100 billion.
We emphasise that NATO and its member states, participants in the illegal act of aggression, are obliged to compensate Serbia for the war damage they have inflicted.
We appeal that special state and expert bodies, tasked with determining the consequences of aggression on the health of people and the environment, resume their work, and that the war crimes against civilians and crimes of non-compliance with the war-related conventions be prosecuted and sanctioned.
We express our strong support and solidarity with Serbia’s efforts to mitigate the consequences of the aggression and her endeavouring to prevent the continuation of NATO’s armed aggression by other means.
We express our full support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia in her internationally recognised borders within which she continued her membership in the UN, the OSCE, and other universal international organisations.
We are deeply concerned about the mass-scale violation of the basic human rights of the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija embodied in continuation of their systematic expulsion from, and in preventing the free and safe return of over 250,000 expelled Serbs and other non-Albanians to, their homes and property.
We firmly believe that the future status of the Province of Kosovo and Metohija may be resolved only in accordance with international law and, in particular, with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of June 10, 1999, which is lasting, legally binding document. We demand that all provisions of the UNSC resolution 1244 be fully respected and implemented.
We condemn each and all violations of that Resolution and the policy of blackmail and pressuring, and all one-sided steps aimed at legalising the seizure of state territory and completing the ethnic cleansing of the remaining Serbian population, in preparation to create the so-called Greater Albania.
We oppose the unipolar world order based on the strategy of hegemonism and global domination with NATO as its military feast. The aggression against the FRY in 1999 was speeding up of the strategy of expansion to the East, and a source of danger to peace in Europe and the world. At the time of the aggression, NATO had 19 members, and today counts 32. After the erection of US military base Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and Metohija, there followed dozens of new NATO bases. Presently, Europe hosts a far larger number of foreign military bases and stockpiles of nuclear weapons than it did during the bipolar world and the Cold War era.
We express our deepest concern about the accelerated escalation of hostilities and conflicts in global relations that add fuel to the fire of conflict, continued provocations, and the looming danger of a global conflict. The world sits on the brink of the abyss. Humanity will either restrain the rampant aggressiveness of the alienated power centres, or fall into that abyss.
This makes us stand unified in the demand for an immediate beginning of the dialogue at the strategic level, under the auspices of the UN, aimed at putting to a halt the escalation, the accumulation of conventional and nuclear weapons, and the breaching of international agreements.
We demand the closure of foreign military camps, the complete withdrawal from Europe of the US tactical nuclear weapons and installations of the so- called anti-missile defences that make security more volatile.
We call for an end to war-mongering rhetoric, and invite all responsible statesmen to resort to dialogue and to finding peaceful, just and sustainable solutions to the ongoing conflicts and crises.
We appeal to all peace-loving forces in the world to join forces in the struggle for the observance of international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, reinforcing the authority and role of the United Nations and other universal international organisations, the observance of principles of equality, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for cooperation and coordination in the fight against terrorism and separatism as global threats.
We support the process of multi-polarisation of global relations and their democratisation on the basis of the sovereign equality of all states and peoples.
We support the peace, security and development initiatives that are based on the principle of mutual indivisibility of peace, security and development, and that take note of the root causes of problems. The key roles in that process play BRICS, EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union], Global Initiative “Belt and Road”, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, NAM [Non-Aligned Movement]. We support the abolition of all monopolies, privileges based on “exceptionalism”. We refuse unilateral sanctions, erection of new “walls” or divisions. Attempt to divide the world into “democracies” and “autocracies” is a trickery of the power-centres designed to extend the life of the unipolar world order.
The policy of confrontation, interventionism, and interference in internal affairs, backed by the military-industrial complex and large financial capital, must give way to dialogue, partnership, respect for fundamental norms of international law and the multi-polar world order.
Peace, stability, democracy and inclusive development require radical changes in present global relations, observance of sovereign equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, multilateralism, respect of common interests, and exclusion of any egoism, protectionism and privileges of the past.
The biggest obstacle to the world order of sovereign equal nations is the relics of the Cold War. That is why NATO should be dissolved and the doctrine of hegemonism, expansionism and neo-colonialism consigned to history.
We condemn the mass-scale killing of the innocent Palestinian people, in particular of children, and call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and other areas inhabited by the Palestinian people, in order to finally stop this human suffering unprecedented in recent history, and for unhindered delivery of food, medicines, water, and other necessities of life to the vulnerable population.
We support a two-state solution, the free and safe return of all expelled persons, the abolition of the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state within the pre-June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital, all in accordance with the United Nations Resolutions.
We express our solidarity with the people of Cuba who have been suffering the devastating consequences of the unilateral US embargo for many years. The Cuban people have an inalienable right to choose the paths of internal development of their own, without external interference. We demand respect for the UN positions on the lifting of the US blockade of Cuba, and the removal of Cuba from the list of ‘states sponsoring terrorism’ because it was inserted without any bases.
We hold that the Ukrainian crisis is a corollary of NATO’s strategy of expansion to the East, under betrayal of all agreements of the otherwise.
We believe this crisis can be resolved peacefully, by acknowledging and removing the causes and by guaranteeing equal security for all countries. The common future of humanity excludes egotism and selfish approaches such as the ‘golden billion’ security thesis.
We express our acknowledgment and gratitude to our hosts – the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals, the Club of Generals and Admirals of Serbia, SUBNOR of Serbia, the Diaspora Fund for Serbia, and the Association of Veterans of the Military Intelligence Service, as well as to the citizens of Serbia – for their hospitality and good organisation of the Conference.
The organisers express their acknowledgment to the participants of the Conference, including the World Peace Council and all its members, for their decades long solidarity and support to Serbia and the Serbian people, as well as for their extraordinary contribution to the results of this Conference. •
Source: https://www.beoforum.rs/en/