Reply to Russia on the Anniversary of the NATO Campaign to End Serbian Aggression in Kosovo
As delivered by Chargé d’ Affaires, a.i. Kate M. Byrnes
To the Permanent Council, Vienna
March 23, 2017
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We have listened with great interest to the statement by the Russian Delegation marking the anniversary of NATO’s campaign that brought an end to Serbian aggression in Kosovo.
In late 1998, the Yugoslav government, under former president Milosevic, unleashed a brutal military campaign inside Kosovo, which included widespread atrocities against civilians.
The international community worked very hard to find a diplomatic solution to halt these events, resulting in the Rambouillet Accords, which called for Kosovo’s autonomy and the intervention of NATO troops to preserve the peace. Mr. Milosevic rejected that opportunity for peace and continued the ethnic cleansing campaign.
As a result, the international community, in the face of rising international outrage over the atrocities occurring in Kosovo, responded with a NATO military operation to halt the violence in Kosovo and stop the humanitarian catastrophe.
With a clear understanding of the facts, we are better able to move ahead and contribute to the stable, prosperous Euro-Atlantic future to which the people of the region aspire.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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