Clark: I hope Kosovo will be invited to NATO soon, Moscow wants destabilization of Balkans.
The decision to launch a bombing campaign against Serbia to stop the genocide that Serbia was committing against the civilian population in Kosovo was one of the crucial moments for the liberation of Kosovo. The drafter of the plan (bombing of Serbia), the retired US General Wesley Clark, in an exclusive interview for Gazeta Express explained how difficult it was to make the decision to bomb Serbia in 1999 – a decision which is already being asked also by the Ukrainians against Russia.
Regarding the tense situation in Europe after Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Clark said that Moscow is interested in destabilizing the Balkans, but he hopes that Kosovo will receive the invitation for NATO membership soon. Clark, one of the initiators of Kosovo’s state-building, praises Kosovo’s achievements, seeing it as a model state in the troubled Balkan region.
He says he hopes that Serbia “can break away from old pan-Slavic ideas” and join modernism – away from Slobodan Milosevic’s ugly ideology. According to Clark, NATO must step up security in Europe given that a possible Russian occupation of Ukraine would jeopardize stability. He also says that Ukraine should be supported in any form, while emphasizing that a bombing campaign like in the case of Kosovo is not the right answer at the moment, but more direct NATO action in the future may be needed.
Gazeta Express: We are now seeing how difficult it is for NATO to take action to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine like the one it took in 1999 to stop the genocide that was taking place in Kosovo from Serbian aggression. How difficult was it for you to make the decision to start the bombing campaign against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic?
Wesley Clark: NATO had clearly explained to Milosevic, and taken action to affirm, that if he resumed ethnic cleansing, he would suffer the bombing campaign. The decision to start the campaign was made by the President of the US and NATO Heads of Government. I prepared the concept plans and was consulted during the decision-making process.'>>>
https://www.gazetaexpress.com/clark-i-hope-kosovo-will-be-invited-to-nato-soon-moscow-wants-destabilization-of-balkans/