YUGOSLAVIA: ANNIVERSARY OF NATO ACTION

(10 Jun 2000) Serbo-Croat/Nat

A top Yugoslavian military official has lashed out at the West for its military campaign against Yugoslavia.

The Yugoslav Army's Chief of Staff, General Nebojsa Pavkovic, was at a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the end of last year's NATO bombing of Yugoslavia on Saturday.

NATO launched the airstrikes to stop Milosevic's crackdown on armed ethnic Albanian militants in Kosovo.

The ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the end of NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia was held in Aleksinac Square on Saturday, about 120 kilometres south of Belgrade.

During the bombing campaign, Aleksinac was hit seven times, including an attack on an apartment complex on April 5 last year that killed 17 civilians.

The area has now been rebuilt and local people watched as the memorial took place.

NATO and Yugoslav generals signed an agreement June 9, 1999, calling for Serb-led forces to leave Kosovo and allow the return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians who fled or were driven into neighbouring countries.

The following day, NATO suspended its bombing campaign and officially terminated the operation on June 20 when the last of 40-thousand Yugoslav troops rolled out of Kosovo.

Also present at the ceremony on Saturday were the influential wife of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Mirjana Markovic, as well as Serbia's deputy premier Nikola Sainovic.

The main speech came from General Nebojsa Pavkovic, Yugoslav Army's chief of staff.

He blasted the U-S and NATO for the bombing and praised the way President Milosevic handled the situation.

SOUNDBITE: (Serb-croat)
"Led by the states wisdom and the determination of the military commander, the President of Yugoslavia - President Milosevic our people and our army prevented the surrender of the country and contributed to the cessation of the military action. They prevented the aggressor from accomplishing most of it's goals."
SUPER CAPTION: General Nebojsa Pavkovic, Yugoslav Army's chief of staff

He said Milosevic should be awarded the country's highest honour - the National Hero's Medal.

Pavkovic also blamed Western powers for backing Serbia's anti-Milosevic opposition and the pro-Western leadership in neighbouring Montenegro.

About 2-thousand people attended the ceremony on Saturday, entitled "Memory and Hope".

There were speeches from youngsters, as well as music and singing.

NATO launched its air war to stop Milosevic's crackdown on armed ethnic Albanian militants in Kosovo.

After two and a half months of bombing Milosevic caved in to NATO demands and pulled Serb troops and police out of the southern Serbian province.

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