Nikolić: Serbia insists on truth and justice

Nikolić: Serbia insists on truth and justice

There is no doubt that a connection exists between the two crimes, Nikolić said, adding that "the NATO aggression made possible the barbarianism and rampage by ethnic Albanian extremists in Serbia's southern province in 2004."

"Kosovo and Metohija is not no man's land that anyone can attack if they want to. For centuries, it has been Serbia's home, in which all people who respect each other in a reasonable and civilized manner can live if they are willing to," Nikolić said at the event, held at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade.

"Serbia wants to reach an agreement, rather than fit into the standards of usurpers. Serbia will insist on truth and justice at all costs, for the sake of peace in the soul, which is possible, and reconciliation, which is what we, too, need", Nikolić said.

Justice and law should be above anyone and equal for all, Nikolić said, stressing that the "NATO bombing was an aggression against a sovereign state."

"In your lifetimes, NATO bombed Serbia, a sovereign European state, for 78 days, without authorization from the Security Council and according to the law of force, not the law of justice. It bombed Serbia and its children" Nikolić said addressing the students.

"Be proud that, in those evil times, the Faculty of Law in Belgrade initiated direct correspondence with the world - it was a true counterstrike, but one that relied on legal and ethical arguments, and was generally seen as the first and major defeat for the aggressors and those who represented them," Nikolić said.

"Fifteen years have passed since then, and some lessons are there for the world to learn. That is just how long it took the then German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to say aloud the truth he also knew back in 1999 - that the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a violation of international law and that he himself trampled that law under foot," the Serbian president said.

"As slow as they may be, justice and truth are attainable. Schroeder spoke out a few days ago, someone else will tomorrow, and that will go on until the complete truth, strengthened by law and justice, becomes clear to the entire world," he said.

Nikolić also criticized the part of Europe that was unwilling to protect the European, rather than just Serbian, civilisation and culture, promoting the ethnic Albanians' right to a state in Serbian territory.

Ten years ago, before the eyes of the entire world, a nation that had built monasteries, schools, hospitals and churches in the thousand years of history of its state and Orthodox Christianity in Kosovo and Metohija, was punished, while vandals who demolished, torched and tarnished the Serbian and European cultural memory are rewarded with impunity and expect to be given the ultimate reward of legalising a state of their own in a territory where a state has existed for nearly a millennium - the Serbian state, Nikolić said.

There is valid, reliable documentation that corroborates the claim that Kosovo and Metohija is Serbian land, and sacred land, too, Nikolić said.

"One of the fundamental rights that the world insists on is inviolability of property. Our documents on property in Kosovo and Metohija date back to the beginning of the 12th century. Our title deeds are etched in stone," he said.

It is not only Serbian, but European culture and memory that are treasured in Kosovo, as is a major step in the progress of the human civilization on the planet as a whole, Nikolić said.

According to Tanjug, the students who attended the event said that they "want to send a clear message that the NATO bombing campaign was a crime without a doubt."