West To Prevent Investigation Into NATO Bombing Of Former Yugoslavia In 1999 - Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov voiced the belief that the West would do anything possible to prevent investigation into international legislation violations that NATO commanders had possibly committed while airstriking Yugoslavia in 1999

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2019) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov voiced the belief that the West would do anything possible to prevent investigation into international legislation violations that NATO commanders had possibly committed while airstriking Yugoslavia in 1999.

His comment came mere days before the anniversary of the beginning of NATO airstrikes against what was then Yugoslavia and now is Serbia and Montenegro. The airstrikes took place between March 24 and June 10, 1999.

"I think that the West is doing and will be doing everything possible to prevent this [investigation]," Lavrov said in an interview for a documentary at Russian NTV broadcaster.

He added that Serbian authorities were conducting their own probe into the use of banned weapon by NATO forces.

"Judging by its result, we will see what can be done so that this crime does not remain unpunished. I will say it once again, I see almost no chance that international institutions, where the West is present and its opinion is taken into consideration, will allow this. They will do anything to prevent this," Lavrov said.

The foreign minister stressed that NATO had "grossly" violated "all the principles of international humanitarian law," since the airstrikes had targeted "purely civilian objects.

" He recalled that NATO air forces had carried out strikes targeting a passenger train and a tv center, saying that this had long-lasting consequences.

"Those who call certain media outlets 'propaganda tools' are trying to use that experience. By the way, this is exactly how France describes Russia Today and Sputnik. They are banned from events for which other media outlets receive accreditation. This is exactly where the policy of accusing journalists of certain media outlets of being 'the voice of propaganda' has its roots, as this is how the necessity to carry out strikes targeting the TV center in Belgrade was explained," Lavrov explained.

In 1999, an armed conflict broke out between Albanian separatists from the Kosovo Liberation Army and Serbian security forces, which led to NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The military operation was carried out without the UN Security Council approval and was based on allegations of Western countries that Yugoslavian authorities had carried out ethnic cleansing of thousands of Albanians in Kosovo, provoking a humanitarian catastrophe there.

According to the Serbian authorities, around 2,500 people died, while around 12,500 others were injured as a result of NATO strikes.