Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Ottawa and founder of the Centre for Research on Globalization, Michel Chossudovsky, on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the beginning of NATO’s aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, reminds that it was NATO’s first official war against a sovereign country—but not the last—as this war agenda was later used in various conflicts, with media propaganda playing a significant role, which is still evident today in the case of Ukraine.
He also believes that now is the opportunity, especially with Donald Trump at the helm of the United States, to raise the issue of closing the American Bondsteel base in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.
“This is essentially a U.S. base. Trump wants to reduce military costs, and this is a large military base, expensive to maintain,” said Chossudovsky, author of numerous books, including The U.S. and NATO Aggression Against Yugoslavia and The Globalization of Poverty, which have been translated into Serbian.
Regarding negotiations on Ukraine, Chossudovsky believes it would have been better if they had taken place in Belgrade, given that Serbia is a militarily neutral country. President Aleksandar Vučić could have played a mediating role since he maintains dialogue with the EU, Washington, and Moscow.
Chossudovsky emphasized to Tanjug that, in the case of the bombing of the FRY, the propaganda machine was well-organized, but that war was—brutal and ruthless—planned many years in advance, “which is confirmed, among other things, by the construction of the American Bondsteel military base on occupied Kosovo,” which, in his view, many see as a strategic pillar of the U.S. presence in this region.
He added that he believes the world is “in an era of insane politics,” but at least not Serbia.
“When you have U.S. President Donald Trump making certain statements about wanting to cut military spending by billions and billions of dollars, while also being reserved about NATO’s role in American military bases—as is the case with Bondsteel—I think it would be appropriate for the Serbian government to politely send a note to Washington, citing Trump’s concerns about military expenses,” said Chossudovsky.
According to him, the note should state that Bondsteel is a burden for Serbia, a burden for so-called Kosovo, and for Washington, and that “we want to cooperate” and “we would like to see that base closed.”
Image: Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
He added that this would be a position aligned with the rhetoric of the U.S. president, who has even stated that he would close military bases in Europe.
“And here you have an opportunity,” said Chossudovsky, noting that the relationship between the U.S. and NATO is complex, but that NATO does not actually decide anything, as all major decisions go through the Pentagon and highly complex command structures.
Serbia, he stressed, must regain control over Kosovo.
Chossudovsky stated that, first and foremost, that the Kosovo territory is not a state but a province of Serbia, which was taken over by General Michael Jackson—who had a criminal record in the United Kingdom—and Hashim Thaçi, a man involved in drug trafficking, who was only sent to The Hague 20 years later.
According to him, by remaining neutral in relations with both Russia and the U.S., Serbia has the potential to play a role in creating peace.
That is why, he says, it would have been better if negotiations between Putin and Trump had taken place in Belgrade rather than in Saudi Arabia.
“This is neutral territory, not in the way Switzerland is. They are very biased. Your president (Aleksandar Vučić) is very perceptive in understanding geopolitics. We watched one of his earlier speeches, where he says that if we do not make certain decisions, it will lead to catastrophe. I think he is a powerful voice and perhaps should also play a role in peace operations, as he has dialogue with the EU, Washington, and Moscow,” Chossudovsky assessed. He reminded that Serbia has always declared itself neutral, which, he adds, it inherited from the SFRY, which was non-aligned, making it “strategically important for those seeking to build empires.”
Recalling March 24, 1999, Chossudovsky states that it was a war against truth, carried out in coordination with the criminal elements of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which collaborated with American and German intelligence services.
“This was NATO’s first war, but not its last, because all the elements of that war were stored in databases for future conquest plans in various countries. The war agenda from 1999 was used in different wars, adapted to different contexts and cultures, but ultimately, it always involved the coordination of military action with economic activities, regime change, and propaganda,” said Chossudovsky, one of the first people to stand by Serbia during NATO’s aggression.
Chossudovsky, who was awarded the Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia in 2014, considers the bombing of the FRY to have been an illegal and criminal act in which the media played a crucial role. He also noted that the situation is similar in Ukraine, “because there are no newspapers in the Western world that would write that the Ukrainian government is neo-Nazi.”
Western media, he added, are complicit, covering up crimes. He recalled the 1998 film The Valley, sponsored by NATO, which served as justification for the horrors of war in Kosovo and Metohija.
“There were fake images… They showed that Serbs were killing Albanians, and it was sponsored with KLA support. That documentary film was distributed mainly in Western countries. It was a way to show that Serbs were killing people… and so, the fabricated notion that the KLA was there to ‘save’ everyone from the Serbs gained legitimacy, despite the fact that they themselves were linked to organized crime and Al-Qaeda, with media support,” Chossudovsky said.
That film must be carefully analyzed, assessed Chossudovsky, who at the time wrote for Le Monde Diplomatique but ended his collaboration when the editorial board refused to publish an article presenting evidence that one of the key figures in Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, had a criminal record.
“They attacked Serbia, or rather, the FRY, under the pretext of a humanitarian intervention, with strong condemnation and demonization of President Slobodan Milošević, as well as the entire Serbian people,” said Chossudovsky, who claimed that he spoke with Milošević in The Hague and “knew they were poisoning him in the Tribunal.”
“People in Serbia need to understand that Milošević died for his people,” said Chossudovsky, who began researching Yugoslavia within the broader economic events of the 1980s.
He recalled that the peak of the economic crisis in Yugoslavia was in January 1990, which led to what was called a civil war, although, as he argues, it was not a civil war.
“There were two key elements—the Western media and how they lied and covered up crimes committed by NATO forces. The second element was the so-called left, the ‘progressive’ parties in the U.S. and Western Europe. They even portrayed KLA members as ‘freedom fighters’ and went so far as to cite Marx and Lenin in that context. They even acknowledged that the KLA was linked to organized crime but justified it as necessary for the revolution,” he said.
He emphasized that Milošević’s legacy is very important because, first and foremost,
“he did not play their game, acted on behalf of the Serbian people and his country, and understood the situation—his actions also saved lives when they came to arrest him.”
“It was clear where the crime originated from, and Milošević analyzed it and understood the role of Al-Qaeda. I reviewed one of his speeches in The Hague, which was very concrete,” he stated, adding that “everyone knows that the CIA financed Al-Qaeda,” which was also linked to the KLA.
According to Chossudovsky, it was crucial for Milošević, but for the West, it was essential to discredit him.
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Featured image: “Big Duke” (Mt. Ljuboten) looming over Camp Bondsteel (Public Domain)
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