THE NATO BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA (1999) 20 YEARS LATER – THE PROBLEMS OF LEGALITY, LEGITIMACY AND CONSEQUENCES
THE NATO BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA (1999) 20 YEARS LATER – THE PROBLEMS OF LEGALITY, LEGITIMACY AND CONSEQUENCES

Author(s): Boris Krivokapić
Subject(s): International Law, Security and defense, Military policy, Geopolitics, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Институт за међународну политику и привреду
Keywords: NATO intervention; legality; aggression; international law; legitimity
Summary/Abstract: Even during the NATO war against Yugoslavia (1999), the author of these lines pointed to its illegality. This was done in several contributions on the web page of the Yugoslav Internet Society. After that, I analyzed various aspects related to aggression in a book published in the same year, and then in a series of articles in scientific journals and collections of papers. For this reason, the main problem in writing this paper was how to objectively analyze and check evaluations and qualifications given in previous texts in the light of new knowledge. Another important question was whether it is necessary to ensureabsolute originality of the paper by writing about something we have never dealt with before or it is better to reconsider the most significant problems, although we have already covered some of them in our previous works. I decided for one type of compromise. That is, to return to the most important topics even if they are not brand new for us, but to try to do so from a new angle. Having in mind a considerable passage of time, finding new facts, the current state of international law and international relations, the role of the UN and NATO in the modern world, etc. the question arises as to whether the assessments and qualifications I made in the previous papers were correct. In other words, has something changed in the meantime, casting a significantly different light on the whole problem? Looking closer, putting things in the wider context and analyzing them from various angles, I will try to answer four basic questions: 1. Has anything changed in terms of the illegality of the NATO intervention - is there any reason to claim that it was still legal? 2. Could the intervention be if it is not lawful, then justified (legitimate)? 3. Was the armed action carried out in accordance with the rules of the law of armed conflict (did NATO commit war crimes?)? 4. What has NATO aggression brought (what are its consequences)?

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