Former high-ranking official of KFOR and UNMIK, retired Portuguese Major General Raul Cunha, stated today that the 1999 NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia was completely contrary to international law, and that the international conference in Rambouillet that preceded it was a farce.
Cunha stated that the bombing of the FRY was completely and absolutely against international law, and that several ultimatums to Serbia, including the one during the Rambouillet negotiations, were used as a pretext.
“In a way, with a weak excuse, it was a way to impose a political will, at that time of the USA, which favored all those unequal conditions. Of course, after that, when Serbia rejected several ultimatums, excuses were presented. Especially at earlier conferences when the USA demanded that NATO have full access and control over the territory,” Cunha told RTS.
He added that the fiasco of the Rambouillet negotiations from February 6 to February 23, 1999, should be viewed in that light.
Cunha said that those negotiations were a farce and a pretext, and that a condition was set to resolve the Kosovo issue so that, if Serbia refused, they could act.
“But, since there was no Security Council resolution that would allow what happened, in my opinion, it was illegal,” Cunha stated.
He added that the war ended with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, in which the sovereignty of Serbia was recognized, but that NATO violated its founding principles with this operation.
“This meant that NATO abandoned the principles on which it was founded for the first time. NATO was supposed to be a defensive organization, and it was used to attack the sovereignty of a country completely against the principles that were in force,” Cunha emphasized.
Speaking about the March Pogrom of 2004 from the position of someone who was involved in the work of international institutions in KiM, KFOR, and UNMIK, Cunha pointed out that KFOR members are most responsible for those events because, as he stated, they did not act in accordance with the mandate entrusted by UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
“And that was the reason that allowed such things to happen. Especially the French forces, the Italians, and the Germans are most responsible. It was incredible how it was possible that the people who carried out the pogrom could march in front of their headquarters, even moving towards monuments they were supposed to defend. In the case of the Germans, the way the monasteries were destroyed was terrifying, and they were supposed to protect that area. They simply barricaded themselves in their headquarters and let everything happen. For me, the behavior of some KFOR forces was disgusting,” Cunha stated.
He added that after March 17, 2004, the “question of the rules of engagement” was considered, but that it was essentially a “weak excuse” for everything that happened then.
“So, KFOR is completely to blame, and UNMIK, in a way, did what it could at that time. But also, the representative of the Secretary-General, the head of the mission, was not, let’s say, the best option at that time. And in a way, he should have been firmer and should have asked KFOR, or should have established a much stronger position of the international authorities which was not taken,” Cunha emphasized.
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Source: Politika; Photo: Printscreen YouTube / e – Mësimi