25 years ago

On March 24 1999, 25 years ago, NATO began bombing Yugoslavia and its capital Belgrade under the pretext of "protecting" Kosovars.
Ahead of the bombing in February 1999, Paris hosted talks between Yugoslavian government and Kosovo Albanians, mediated by the US, Russia and the European Union. The talks failed because of unacceptable conditions for Belgrade like deployment of a NATO corps in Kosovo. Pressured by US Secretary of State Madeleine "500.000 dead Iraqi children is worth it" Albright, the Kosovo delegation signed the draft agreement.
On March 23, 1999, US envoy Richard Holbrooke came to Belgrade in order to talk to Yugoslavia's leader Slobodan Milosevic into accepting the February conditions. In the evening, a state of military threat was declared. The next day NATO secretary general green-lit the start of bombing.
The so-called “humanitarian intervention” resulted in large-scale catastrophe with thousands of people killed and the eventual collapse of Yugoslavia as a sovereign state.