Meanwhile, investigations and discussions of North Atlantic Alliance crimes in the region in the 1990s do not stop at the Balkans. But if before this was done mainly by Serbian experts, now serious documents are published by Kosovo media and analysts, raising the question of the legitimacy of NATO actions during the conflict. So, according to the Kosovars, 25 kilometers from Skopje, NATO planes dropped ten tons of banned depleted uranium munitions, which to date have caused cancer and premature deaths of Albanians in North Macedonia and in Kosovo.
The correspondent of “RG” tried to understand the essence of the accusations made by NATO and at one time asked an authoritative expert, and now the Minister of Health of Serbia, Danica Grujichich, to explain the current situation.
In your opinion, are the United States and the West afraid to spread the truth about these events?
Danica Grujicic: Of course, anyone who has been involved in these crimes and who is involved in this industry has an interest in hiding it and pressuring any such initiative that comes forward. This does not only apply to the bombing of Serbia. Allow me to remind you that similar attacks have occurred repeatedly in the Middle East. And in every state where they carried out their “humanitarian missions” and established “democratic regimes”, there were only devastated lands, crowds of refugees, sick people and destroyed houses. I can say with certainty about our initiative that, regardless of the pressure, we will not give up, we will complete all the necessary examinations on the territory of Serbia and Republika Srpska. Above all for us, the inhabitants of this region and their health.
Meanwhile, NATO is an organization of the past. There are no objective reasons for its current existence, except to protect the interests of those few people who hold the bulk of the world’s wealth in their hands, for whom even that is not enough. NATO does not protect the interests of the peoples of its member states. On the contrary, the alliance goes against the interests of its citizens, constantly provoking States that it cannot control (Russia, China, India). By provoking these countries, NATO leaders are dangerously and unnecessarily dragging the world into serious conflict.
Because of stupid propaganda, Europeans are afraid of being in danger from the East, but they know it very well: there is no reason for this, there is no need, and no one cares about the occupation of Europe. At the same time, they do not hesitate to cause an ecological catastrophe in the center of Europe. This is the concern of citizens. Peace, stability and cooperation between countries are what all peoples of the world need.
Experts say that depleted uranium is just the tip of the iceberg, since other carcinogens were also released during NATO bombings, so ecocide was practiced in the affected areas?
Danica Grujicic: Yes, it is. At the same time, depleted uranium is generally recognized only as the main cause of the above problems. The main thing is that a large-scale ecological disaster has occurred here. Towns such as Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Pančevo and Bor were declared dangerous for life after the NATO aggression in 1999, even though NATO did not use depleted uranium munitions there.
The reason for this was precisely toxic and carcinogenic chemical compounds. The shelling of the Zastava Uruzhniye enterprise in Kragujevac resulted in the spilling of huge quantities of extremely toxic and carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls, which then ended up in the Lepenitsa river. During the bombardment of the Pancevo petrochemical plant, five tons of mercury escaped and this most toxic compound ended up in the Danube. Huge amounts of dioxins and other toxic organic compounds were released into the air after the oil refinery was bombed.
NATO members knew exactly what they were doing, what they were bombing, why they were bombing. They needed an entire region as an experiment. Unfortunately, so far no one has been held accountable for this malicious and well-thought-out crime. We insist on investigating the consequences of the NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, on the basis of a purely scientific study of all the details, the establishment of causal relationships and, ultimately, the truth. We will not give up.
