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Security Council

Fifty-fourth year

"no enforcement action shall be taken under regional arrangements or by regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council".

Today, NATO was unmasked. It ceased to be a defensive military alliance and became an aggressive military alliance, disregarding its own statute, the Charter of the United Nations, and the Paris Charter of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as the system of international relations based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States. By bombing massively and indiscriminately the cities and towns of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, NATO has become the air force and mercenary of the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The United States of America and NATO must assume full responsibility for all consequences of their act of open aggression, both foreseeable and unforeseeable.

By committing the aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, NATO has trampled upon intemational law and the fundamental principles of international relations by endangering peace and security in the world in the most irresponsible and criminal way.

That is why my Government requested, on the basis of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, an urgent meeting of the Security Council. We expect and request the Security Council to take immediate action strongly to condemn and stop the aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Until this happens, my country has no alternative but to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity by all means at its disposal, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations.

The NATO attacks have been made against my country only because Yugoslavia, as a sovereign and independent State, refuses to allow foreign troops to occupy its territory and to reduce its sovereignty. The excuse for this NATO action was the alleged refusal of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to sign the so-called agreement, which had neither been endorsed by all members of the Contact Group nor negotiated with my country. The meetings in France were not negotiations about the autonomy of Kosovo and Metohija, but a crude and unprecedented attempt to impose a solution clearly endorsing the separatists’ objectives, under pressure, blackmail and the threat of use of force against my country.

The Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was and is ready to find a political solution. We give it absolute priority, but we cannot agree to the secession of Kosovo and Metohija, either immediately or after the interim period of three years.

Our delegation had submitted a document on the substantial autonomy and genuine self-government of Kosovo and Metohija on the basis of the 10 principles agreed by the Contact Group. That document is signed by all the members of our delegation. It is fully in line with the highest European standards relating to human rights, democracy and multi-ethnicity. As in the past, we remain committed to a reasonable political settlement of the problems in Kosovo and Metohija that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and Yugoslavia and guarantees the equality of the rights of all citizens and national communities living there.

If the Security Council does not protect a State Member of the United Nations against such aggression, it will undermine the entire system of international peace and security as we know it. The question is: What has happened to the credibility of the Security Council and who is responsible for maintaining international peace and security? Is it the Security Council or the usurper, NATO? The NATO air strikes have already resulted in heavy destruction and great loss of human life. If this aggression is not stopped immediately and unconditionally, its consequences for peace in the world will be catastrophic.

I call on the members of the Security Council to act swiftly and in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations to condemn this act of aggression and to take appropriate measures to stop it immediately and unambiguously so that all problems may be resolved by political means.

The Government of my country extends an urgent appeal to all States to categorically oppose the current aggression of NATO and the United States of America against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. If the aggression is not stopped, the precedent of such unpunished aggression will, sooner or later, lead to aggression against a number of other, smaller and medium-sized countries. The real question is: Which country is next?

Sixty-five years ago, the Emperor Haile Selassie, whose country was subjected to aggression by Fascist Ttaly — as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is today 14