Lies About NATO Intervention

For Antena M by: Miljan Vešović

Sunday, March 24th 2024 was the twenty fifth anniversary of the NATO-led intervention in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, codenamed “Operation Allied Force”.

Just like every year since 2000, the anniversary was an occasion for Russian and Serbian authoritarian regimes and affiliated media to launch an anti-NATO and anti-Western propaganda and disinformation campaign. This year, with the anniversary being a “milestone” one, the campaign has been even more intense.

Naturally, with the parliamentary majority and media space being controlled by pro-Russian, pro-Serbian and anti-Western political forces, the campaign was felt in a NATO ally Montenegro as well. According to the analysis published by Montenegrin NGO “Digital Forensic Center” (DFC), “pro-Serbian and pro-Russian media, together with far-right groups, pro-Serbian oriented individuals and structures were involved in the campaign, mainly by promoting the narrative created in Belgrade”.

DFC further established that Montenegrin Public Broadcaster “RTCG” (funded by taxpayers’ money) also, intentionally or unwittingly, participated in the fake narrative dissemination, by exaggerating a number of victims of NATO intervention in FR Yugoslavia and incorrectly stating that the name of the operation was “Merciful Angel” even though it was, as explained above, “Operation Allied Force”.

Dispelling myths and debunking fake narratives about the 1999 NATO intervention is extremely important, especially in Montenegro, where for the last four years anti-NATO campaign, instigated by pro-Serbian and pro-Russian political parties and the Serbian Orthodox Church, with the help of Serbian and Russian intelligence services, has been in full swing.

Unfortunately, the anti-NATO narrative in Montenegro is gaining ground – according to the latest opinion polls, 46% of the electorate supports Montenegro staying in NATO, while 44% wants Montenegro to leave the Alliance. Only a year ago, the pro-NATO camp had a double-digit lead. Now it is within the margin of error.

There are several important facts about the NATO intervention in FR Yugoslavia that are not mentioned enough in Montenegrin public discourse. Firstly, and probably most importantly – without NATO intervention, Montenegro probably wouldn’t have been able to avoid military aggression instigated by Milosevic’s regime in Serbia.

The older readers will remember – Milosevic’s regime was ready to cause war in Montenegro as soon as it was “finished” with Kosovo. The Yugoslav Army, under direct command of Milosevic’s cronies, was stationed in Montenegro and ready to move against then Montenegrin government. Together with the Army, rogue nationalistic military units (the famous 4th and 7th Battalion) and paramilitary formations were roaming around Montenegro and waiting for the signal from Belgrade to start shooting. NATO intervention and the consequent decisive defeat and retreat of Yugoslav Army and Serbian Police and paramilitary units in Kosovo put a stop to all that.

Secondly, the NATO intervention also contributed decisively towards the fall of Milosevic. It made the electorate in Serbia finally realize that virulent, expansionistic nationalism and wars of aggression against Serbia’s neighbors were not a viable policy. NATO intervention allowed the then opposition in Serbia to unite and consolidate around a pro-Western, pro-democratic platform and decisively defeat Milosevic first in elections, and then on the streets (when he refused to peacefully transfer power after defeat).

By shielding leading opposition figures from Milosevic’s death squads, Montenegro played a key role in these processes. And after Serbian people had gotten rid (politically) of Milosevic, after the capacities of Serbian military to wage aggressive wars had been successfully diminished by the NATO intervention, Montenegro was able to, six years later, restore her statehood in a peaceful and democratic way.

This is one of many reasons why NATO is a “natural habitat” for Montenegro and why her independence and statehood are not sustainable unless Montenegro is a reliable NATO ally and a pro-Western oriented country.

In that time, Montenegro was led by a staunchly pro-Western administration of President Djukanovic. Having that in mind, our future NATO allies took great pains to spare Montenegrin territory from the bombing as much as possible, even though Montenegro was formally still a part of FR Yugoslavia and, as said before, Yugoslav army units of considerable strength were stationed there. That meant that the number of victims, including civilians, was considerably smaller in Montenegro than in Serbia, and Montenegrin critical infrastructure was also saved from destruction, which was not the case in Serbia.

And while the then Montenegrin President and Government were saving the country from destruction, the then pro-Serbian opposition tried to foment civil unrest on Milosevic’s orders by organizing series of protests against government policy, under the slogan “Please Bomb Us Too”. A considerable number of these pro-Serbian politicians are now members of ruling majority in Montenegro.

No wonder that the country is so exposed to pro-Serbian, pro-Russian and anti-NATO propaganda and no wonder NATO and other allies are having headaches how to stop intelligence about, let’s say, Ukraine, shared with Montenegro (as an ally) ending up in Belgrade and Moscow.

Unfortunately, many people also forgot that the NATO intervention actually achieved its humanitarian purpose, by ultimately stopping the Milosevic’s regime from completing the “ethnic cleansing” campaign in Kosovo, which, had it been carried out to the end, would have resulted with a massive loss of civilian lives. One of the key planks of the false narrative about the intervention promoted by Serbia and Russia is that Serbia was bombed for no good reason. History and international tribunals showed us that nothing could be further from the truth.

NATO intervention in 1999 worked well for the Alliance and the West as well. It is true that wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya soured the Western mood on military/humanitarian interventions abroad. However, the intervention in Yugoslavia presents a powerful positive case. It successfully deterred Serbia from further destabilizing actions in the Balkans, which resulted in the peace holding in the region for the last 25 years. NATO also conducted the war without putting “boots on the ground” and with minimal loss of life and equipment. Contrary to the narrative pushed by the Serbian and Russian propaganda machine, the Alliance tried to minimize the number of civilian casualties.

On the other hand, Milosevic’s regime tried to maximize them for the purpose of presenting itself as “an innocent victim of Western crimes”. There were several cases when NATO warned in advance which targets in Serbia would be bombed, but Serbian authorities refused to evacuate them, hoping for as many civilian victims as possible.

In Montenegro, the biggest loss of civilian life happened in the village of Murino, where six civilians, including 3 children, died when NATO warplanes bombed the bridge used by Yugoslav Army to transfer forces to Kosovo. In Montenegro, there is an unfortunate habit to sweep “ideologically inconvenient” victims under the rug and try hard to forget about them. That practice exacerbates polarization of Montenegrin society.

The civilian victims of Murino and their bereaved families must not be forgotten. However, the blame for the loss of life should be laid where it belongs. Civilians in Murino and elsewhere were, first and foremost, victims of a genocidal Milosevic’s regime which wrote some of the darkest chapters in European post WW2 history and which preferred waging war against “the whole world” over stopping barbaric crimes against civilians in Kosovo and elsewhere.

Before and during NATO intervention, Montenegro accepted tens of thousands of refugees from Kosovo, even under threat from Yugoslav Army that it would use force to stop them from coming. There were several instances when the Army, or affiliated pro-Serbian paramilitary formations, stopped and massacred the refugees. It is necessary to remember that these refugees were innocent civilians too.

As said before, the NATO intervention was instrumental in bringing peace to the Balkans after a decade of devastating wars. That peace is now under the gravest threat, the same threat that caused last wars – an authoritarian regime in Serbia hell-bent on destabilization and expansionism. Even the players are the same – current President (and authoritarian leader) of Serbia was Minister of Information under Milosevic, while, for example, current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia was also a high-ranking official of Milosevic’s regime.

That ominous development happened, in part, due to diminished Western influence in the Balkans and the erosion of deterrence caused by, (rightfully) much criticized US and EU-led policy of appeasement towards Serbia. However, what deterrence is left is concentrated in the fact that the memories from the NATO intervention are still fresh. Authoritarian regime in Serbia knows very well what will happen if they go to war with NATO again – Serbian military will be smashed and critical infrastructure in Serbia reduced to dust. That knowledge is one of the few things keeping them from acting on Putin’s wishes and igniting the Balkans again.

However, while their guns are still silent, their hybrid warfare machine is in full attack mode. It is an imperative to stop it. Current Montenegrin leaders, sadly, do not recognize the danger. Afraid of losing support from pro-Serbian media and SOC (or, in some cases, convinced that Milosevic and Vucic were/are actually right), they are falling for anti-NATO propaganda and have disowned the finest hour of Montenegrin recent history – preservation of peace and multi-ethnic community in Montenegro, our Herculean effort to take care of the refugees and our contribution to peace in the Balkans.

After the Munich Agreement, Churchill addressed the then British Government and told them they had choice between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor, he continued, and they would have war. When it comes to current Montenegro’s stance about NATO intervention, the dishonor is already here. We hope and pray the war will not be.