“The latest statement by the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Serbia (Thomas Schieb) that the illegal and criminal aggression of 19 NATO member states against Yugoslavia (Serbia) in the spring of 1999 was intended to “prevent genocide against the Albanian population in Kosovo and Metohija” is, to say the least, unusual and factually unfounded,” writes historian Dejan Ristic.
“This is all the more true because only a day earlier, on the 80th anniversary of the attack by Nazi Germany and its allies, the ambassador had avoided pointing out that his country’s attack on our country had been, among other things, the result of genocide committed against the Serbian people on the territory of the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia,” Risti further reads.
The historian points out that Schieb “while avoiding to refer to the genocide against members of the Serbian people, which took place in the period between 1941 and 1945, decided to justify the criminal aggression of NATO member states against Yugoslavia, with his country as one of the leaders in the bombing, in an inappropriate manner and contrary to historical facts, in order to prevent some sort of genocide that did not happen, nor would it ever have happened.”
“Historical facts testify to us unequivocally that the then Yugoslav and Serb authorities had no genocidal intentions towards the Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, but, in accordance with national and international norms and standards, opposed the attempt of armed rebellions aimed at separating part of the territory of the state,” Ristic added.
As he says, the ambassador, deliberately or inadvertently, has accused Yugoslavia, and thus the Serbian people, of wanting to commit genocide against their (fellow) Albanian citizens in the autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija.
“Thus, the genocide that took place against the Serbian people in the period between 1941 and 1945, and for which Germany is partly responsible, is hushed up and ignored, while the non-existent genocide against the Albanian population in Kosovo is now presented as a justifiable reason for an illegal and criminal attack on a sovereign state that was facing armed rebellions and organised terrorist activities on part of its territory,” reads Ristic’s article.
(B92, 08.04.2021)
https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2021&mm=04&dd=08&nav_category=640&nav_id=1839630
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