Serbs, Blair and Bombs

A week ago, if you’d told me that Tony Blair was to be hired by the Serbian Government as an adviser, I would have suggested you immediately have a chat with a psychiatrist. The mere idea of it would have been so bizarre and extreme to me that I would have been more likely to believe the Saudi Cleric who claims that the Sun actually orbits the Earth. Blair was a key player in the three month bombing campaign, which decimated the infrastructure and economy of the small country and terrorised its’ populous. This was in 1999. Sixteen years ago. Needless to say, these events are still fresh in the minds of the population – and Blair is about as popular as cancer there. It has, however, now been confirmed that the current Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, HAS hired Blair as a political adviser. I can only assume that Galileo was also wrong.

Blair meets Vučić

Serbia is a small country with a population of about 7 million people, on the Balkan Peninsula in South-Eastern Europe. The Serbs, a Slavic people, settled in the region between the 5^th and 7^th centuries AD and founded the Serbian Orthodox church. Throughout the centuries, power shifted between empires, armies marched in and out, populations were forced to convert their religions and borders wildly changed – resulting in a region where people of different ethnic groups and religions were scattered across the whole region. After WWII, Serbia formed part of Yugoslavia (meaning ‘Land of the South Slavs’) headed by Communist party leader Josip Broz ‘Tito’. Tito supressed any display of nationalism - resulting in old tensions, notably between the Croats (Croatia was an Axis state during WWII, run by the Nazi-aligned Ustashe) and the Serbs (Serbia was occupied by the Nazis, but fought them in guerrilla attacks), going unresolved.

Rural Serbia

After Tito’s death in 1980, old tensions boiled over and the individual republics began to splinter apart. People suddenly found themselves living in foreign countries as ethnic minorities – and were terrified as to what that would mean for themselves and their families, given the experiences of their parents and grandparents. Many fled or took up arms, resulting in bloody civil wars. Kosovo’s large Albanian population also wanted to separate, however the large Serbian population did not. The ‘Kosovo Liberation Army’ or KLA, funded and armed by Albania, began guerrilla attacks against police, security forces and even civilians, resulting in government forces conducting anti-terror operations in the province. Up until 1998, the KLA had been described by senior international officials as a ‘Terrorist Organisation’

KLA Fighter

By 1999, after years of political arguing and bloody fighting, the situation came to a head. The USA, the UK and allies had chosen their side. During talks in Rambouillet, France, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević was given an ultimatum – sign an agreement, which would effectively cut Kosovo from Yugoslavia, remove all Yugoslavian troops, hand over control of the province to the KLA and allow foreign forces to occupy not only Kosovo, but give them free reign across the rest of the country - these forces being entirely immune to the rule of Yugoslavian law – OR face an immediate and relentless bombing campaign. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger stated “The Rambouillet text, which called on Serbia to admit NATO troops throughout Yugoslavia, was a provocation, an excuse to start bombing”

Rambouillet talks

Milošević accepted parts of the agreement, but could not accept the complete loss of Kosovo - a territory which had been defended by the Serbs since before the 14^th Century, home to many of their ancient churches and monasteries – and considered by many to be their spiritual homeland.

The talks broke down. The UN would not sanction military action, so US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair rallied a NATO coalition of 16 countries to undertake the action, which was the first time in the organisation’s history that it would attack a sovereign nation which did not pose a threat to any of its’ members, and without the approval ofthe UN Security Council. In a TV interview, Blair stated “This is not a battle for territory…this is a battle for humanity”.

Belgrade in flames

“The worst times were when we were without electricity. The whole city was in darkness and the sky was mottled with rockets – they reminded me of fireworks. So today, I often remember everything when celebrating nice occasions, like New Year and Christmas. At that time, it was difficult to get information about when the attacks would stop and when we would be safe. They attacked us mostly at night. During the day, life went on (almost) as normal, however we mostly became nocturnal.”

Jelena Šćekić, 14 years old during the bombing

The bombing campaign began at approximately 8pm CET on Wednesday 24^th March 1999. Shortly before the first blasts, air raid sirens sounded across Belgrade, instructing the population to take cover. People ran from the streets, closed their windows and filed into makeshift shelters in their basements. NATO initially hit only military targets, however within the first three days they had run out of targets to hit – so moved on to ‘secondary’ targets, such as bridges, factories and power plants. Vast swathes of the country were plunged into darkness. Estimates of civilian casualties vary, but the average is around 2000. NATO referred to these as ‘collateral damage’, as this de-humanised the carnage being inflicted. Numerous incidences of ‘collateral damage’ occurred during the campaign – multiple residential buildings were hit, refugee columns, schools and hospitals were attacked (including a maternity hospital in Belgrade, where mothers continued their labour whilst the building around them burned). In one incident, a packed civilian passenger train - on a scheduled service - was repeatedly strafed by NATO aircraft, killing and injuring many passengers. The Chinese embassy was hit, killing several Chinese citizens – which NATO described as an accident due to them using old maps – causing a diplomatic firestorm. China has never accepted the account that this was an accident. Despite these repeated attacks on civilians, NATO dismissed calls for a halt to the bombing - or even a change of tactics – and continued with the relentless campaign.

In an ominous turn, journalists were also considered to be legitimate targets. On the 23^rd April, the Belgrade headquarters of Radio Television Serbia (RTS) was destroyed by a missile strike, killing 16 civilian technicians and injuring another 16. This marked a turning point - in that the campaign had now truly become an information war. NATO justified the strike by claiming RTS had been broadcasting Serb propaganda, however Amnesty International described the attack as a War Crime.

Novi Sad after an attack

“I remember being woken at 5am by the glass in my window smashing and being hit by a huge shockwave. My mother, father and I fled to my relatives in Niš, where they thought it would be safer. One night, I thought my dad was playing a prank by shining a torch into my window. I looked out, over Niš city – it was on fire. It was about 11pm, but it seemed like daylight.”

Ivana Miljković, 9 years old during the bombing

Throughout the campaign, the Serbian people came together in defiance of the death and destruction being rained down on them. Every day they gathered in the streets and held open-air concerts and many wore signs with targets on – their slogan was ‘ARE WE TARGETS TOO?’. After all of the bridges in their second city, Novi Sad, had been destroyed, the people gathered in great numbers on Belgrade bridges and held hands, to protect them from imminent destruction. Protests against the bombing took place in cities around the world. In Athens, Greece – the only NATO member country to refuse to participate or allow their airspace to be used by coalition aircraft – protestors held banners saying “BOMB HERE – WE ARE SERBIA TOO”.

Serbs protest the bombing

On Thursday 10^th June 1999, the bombing campaign ended. A Finnish-Russian mediation team negotiated terms for the end of hostilities. NATO Claimed a victory, but ironically the terms were remarkably similar to the terms Milošević had agreed to, prior to the bombing campaign. NATO Troops entered Kosovo, under the banner of the UN and Serb Police and military left – almost untouched by the air war. In total, the campaign had lasted 78 days. Serbs began the slow process of rebuilding their devastated country.

Remains of a destroyed church in Kosovo

Post-war, under UN administration, the situation in Kosovo deteriorated. Serbian civilians were killed, kidnapped or driven from their homes under the explicit threat of violence. Mobs destroyed ancient churches and monasteries, desecrated Serb cemeteries and burned homes. Many allegations of the KLA harvesting human organs from Serb prisoners during the conflict have arisen – and several are being investigated by the European Law and Justice Mission in Kosovo.

The de-facto government of Kosovo declared independence on 17^th February 2008. Several countries recognised the state, but many did not, including Serbia. Today, Serbs only comprise approximately 4% of the population and mostly live in ghetto-like villages under the constant threat of violence. Attempts by Serbs to celebrate religious festivals at their churches or visit the graves of their relatives regularly result in their buses being attacked by mobs.

Bus which had been transporting Serbs

All this brings us back to today. Serbia is still an economic black hole and is struggling to recover. Kosovo is home to Camp Bondsteel, one of the largest US military bases outside the continental United States. Tens of thousands of civilians still live in ‘internally displaced persons’ camps – and thousands flee the province each week, seeking refuge in the ‘heaven’ that is the European Union. Violence and state-sponsored crime are rife. Blair is, in my opinion, a money-obsessed buffoon at best – an evil, repeatedly carnage-causing villain at worst, who should be on trial for warcrimes instead of raking in hundreds of millions of dollars on the back of conflicts.

Belgrade today

ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ, stand up to the bullies who are pushing you to drag your country into their pockets. I surely don’t need to remind you that Tony Blair helped to ruin your country 16 years ago - and now wants to profit from its destruction. I know the old saying goes ‘keep your friends close, but your enemies closer’ … but I don’t think that quite extends to employing and paying them! Please think of your people – who I’ve come to know as some of the most caring, hospitable – and unfathomably resilient - in the world.

They deserve better.