24 March 1999: NATO launches bombing of Yugoslavia

Day 5,238, 12:58 • Published in Serbia Greece • by B I T E R

Now the war in Ukraine is known to everyone, but history is there to recall the past and possibly the mistakes that have occurred, but also for young people to learn from it. Today we will talk about the bombing of a Balkan country. Perhaps we too should reflect on what is happening in the world and not hope for saviors such as NATO and other alliances.


Yes, twenty-three years have passed since 24 March 1999, when NATO began its air strikes against Yugoslavia, following the latter's refusal to sign the agreement on the future of Kosovo.

The official code name of the NATO operation was, Operation Allied Force.

The bombings lasted almost 3 months (so today's war could have lasted much longer, if we consider that our then neighboring country was literally bombed.) and were followed by a land invasion. It was the first attack in the Alliance's history on a sovereign state, following the misjudgments of Madeleine Albright who died a few hours ago. It is telling that in the midst of bombings, the Washington Post in a front-page report that Mrs. Albright misjudged Slobodan Milosevic's intentions.

The newspaper called the bombings "Mrs. Albright's war" and argued that both the foreign minister and her most important advisers mistakenly estimated that Yugoslavia's president would back down. This belief of Albright, pushed America and NATO to proceed with the military offensive against Yugoslavia, without first having made preparations for a possible resistance of the Serbian side.


During the bombings, according to the international human rights advocacy organization Human Rights Watch, some 500 civilians were killed in 90 different incidents, while NATO was accused of violating international law.

Belgrade, for its part, reported 5,000 civilians killed during the 78 - day air operations. 30% of the victims were children, while children were also 40% of the injured. The NATO bombs destroyed 480 educational institutions, while UNICEF estimated that 50% of schools in Kosovo were destroyed.

NATO itself has never officially released details of civilian casualties.

The U.S. Pentagon, however, admitted that there were "20 to 30 cases of mistakes", caused as a result of the bombings.


In an interview in 2005, on the website of Serbian Radio-Television (RTS), the building of which was bombed on April 23, 1999, resulting in the deaths of 16 workers, the thinker Noam Chomski noted that the real purpose of the war had nothing to do with US concern about the Kosovar Albanians.


The video doesn't have the best resolution, considering that we're talking about 20 years ago. Back then there was no fake news and the war of "impressed" ...

"The intervention was made because Serbia was not following the required social and economic reforms, which means that it was the last corner of Europe had not subjugated itself to the US-led neoliberal programmes, so it had to be eliminated."



The bombings continued until an agreement was reached, which led to the withdrawal of the Yugoslav armed forces from Kosovo and the creation of the United Nations Interim Administration In Kosovo (UNMIK), a UN peacekeeping mission in the region.

The material damage suffered by Yugoslavia was estimated at USD 29.6 billion. The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was the largest military operation in Europe since The Second World War. All NATO countries participated in the bombings, except Greece, Iceland and Luxembourg. In addition, all of Yugoslavia's neighbouring countries, which were not yet members of NATO, ceded their territory and airspace to the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Kosovo, in February 2008, declared its independence and to date has been recognised as an independent state by 108 UN member states (we can all think reason of it, but i will not mention anything, because some people will insist that "propaganda" is taking place).

It is noted that in recent days in Serbia, there have been demonstrations against NATO and in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As always, you can offer feedback by Endorsing the article and being Subscriber.