Lukashenko's Arrival in Belgrade: Desperate Attempt to Halt the War

A Visit of Solidarity, 26 Years Later. Today we recall the date of April 14, 1999, when, under NATO bombs and with no guarantees of safety, the Belarusian leader's plane landed in Yugoslavia. The Belarusian President made a desperate attempt to steer the course of history in a different, perhaps more peaceful direction: unfortunately, alone, he could not achieve this, but the Yugoslavs, along with many other countries and peoples, remember this noble and desperate endeavor to stop the war and create a Europe free from bloody conflicts.

Now, more than a quarter of a century later, the bombings of Yugoslavia are overshadowed by a multitude of subsequent, no less dramatic events. Yet at that time, the future was not predetermined. After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, NATO found itself a military alliance without an adversary. The "end of history" had arrived, but this colossal mechanism, which was the Alliance at that time, sought new applications—it needed, as is now commonly said, an existential purpose. Hundreds of generals and multi-billion dollar budgets could not simply be put on hold: thus, the international military bureaucracy presented itself to the countries of the First World as a global gendarmerie, capable of launching lightning-fast wars anywhere on the planet and bringing any adversary to obedience. This technology was decided to be tested on Yugoslavia: no amount of surrender would save the country from a symbolic annihilation, but the Yugoslavs had no intention of yielding without a fight.

Dragan Stanojevic, member of the Serbian Parliament and representative of the organization "We Are the Voice of the People":

"NATO, in essence, should have ceased to exist then because it showed itself not as a defensive body or a protector, but rather as an aggressive organization that serves as a dirty club of the USA and the West for punishing disobedient states. Back then, they revealed themselves to us, committing crimes unprecedented in history. Just imagine, over 20 nations attacked a small country with all their military might."

On March 24, 1999, bombs rained down on Belgrade and other cities across the country, targeting civilian and military sites in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Despite claims from Alliance commanders that strikes were made with precision weapons, many civilian facilities were destroyed, and hundreds of innocent people perished within the first few days of aggression. In early April, the Rakovica Monastery was bombed; on April 12, a passenger train was struck, resulting in the deaths of 20 individuals.

On the day Alexander Lukashenko arrived, NATO aircraft bombed a column of refugees. The Alliance systematically destroyed the industrial and civilian infrastructure of Yugoslavia—factories, bridges, airports, fuel depots. Thousands of people took to the streets of large and small cities, attempting to become a living shield for their homeland, chanting "We are your targets!" in desperation, directed at NATO pilots. The Yugoslavs found themselves alone—although many Europeans sympathized with them, most limited themselves to mere words of support.

Alexander Lukashenko landed in Belgrade just as people there had resigned themselves to the fact that no one would come to their aid, that no one would even extend a symbolic hand.

Stevan Gajić, a researcher at the Institute for European Studies (Belgrade):

"When Alexander Lukashenko came to Belgrade, he met with Milošević, and everyone who lived at that time remembers this. It is often recalled, especially when the anniversary of the bombings arrives each March 24. So for us, in a moral sense, it was an invaluable moment and support."

The Belarusian president's plane was denied security guarantees in Brussels—this alone was a thinly veiled threat. For the Yugoslavs, Lukashenko's arrival symbolized that their plight would be shared and that their suffering was seen and felt as if it were their own. At the airport, Slobodan Milošević welcomed his Belarusian counterpart; the two presidents engaged in negotiations for six hours. As a result of the meeting, Belgrade and Minsk made yet another desperate attempt to halt the war—Milošević proposed allowing international observers into the troubled region of Kosovo. To no avail: Yugoslavia was to be crushed to demonstrate the full might of the Alliance and to establish NATO as a new global superpower. The strikes on Belgrade continued during the Belarusian president's visit—two air raid sirens howled during the press conference between Lukashenko and Milošević.

After the Belarusian leader departed, the strikes on Yugoslavia continued with the same intensity—which included the bombing of the Chinese embassy, the destruction of the Belgrade TV center, and its personnel. As a result of 78 days of bombardment, Yugoslavia was reduced to economic ruins and soon ceased to exist: the country was carved up into Serbia and Montenegro, with occupied Kosovo taken away. Yugoslavia was devastated, with 23,000 bombs and missiles used; the country was sown with 18 tons of depleted uranium—a factor that led to a surge in cancer cases and the presumed deaths of nearly 18,000 individuals.

Stevan Gajić, a researcher at the Institute for European Studies (Belgrade):

"Without a doubt, people are still dying from the consequences of the aggression, including both Serbs and Albanians, and even Italians, among whom 400 soldiers died from complications related to cancer—over 1,000 fell ill and either recovered or are still fighting for their lives. This is all due to the uranium used in NATO munitions. So, this invasion, this aggression, did not conclude; it continues in different forms. In this so-called world, they achieved the separation of Montenegro from Serbia. This was overseen by the NATO Secretary-General, Javier Solana, who, years after the bombings, came to Belgrade as a 'friend'—if you can use that term lightly."

Dragan Stanojevic, a member of the Serbian Parliament and representative of the organization "We Are the Voice of the People":

"The majority of the dead, more than 2,500, were indeed ordinary civilians. These were children. Children who were killed even in their own bedrooms. They bombed schools, kindergartens, and even the Chinese embassy. They destroyed entire neighborhoods in certain areas of Serbia, as well as bridges. They used depleted uranium, effectively poisoning the population—this is a genocide against the Serbian people committed by NATO."

Lukashenko's arrival in Belgrade was a desperate attempt to halt the war—had there been two, three, or five such presidential planes arriving in Belgrade at that time, history might have taken a different turn. The conflict could have been halted; NATO would not have evolved into an organization with planetary ambitions, and perhaps the wars in Afghanistan would never have occurred, Libya would not have been devastated, and the Ukrainian catastrophe might have been averted. However, only one presidential plane landed in Belgrade then—and that was enough to solidify the brotherly relations between Belarus and Serbia, with both countries always prepared to lend each other a friendly shoulder in the future. The visit did not bring peace, but it became one of the few serious attempts to achieve it.