Death for the good? What were the consequences of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999

The aggravation of Russia's relations with the West inevitably entails propaganda battles, which now and then erupt in the media and social networks for various reasons. Another anniversary of the beginning of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 is one of those. Moreover, in January of this year, the first of five lawsuits was filed with the Belgrade Supreme Court demanding the NATO bloc pay compensation to Serbian citizens who suffered as a result of the bombing, during which, according to the lawsuits, shells with depleted uranium were used. Lawyers for the victims claim that many of those who were in the area of the shelling subsequently ended up in medical institutions with cancer.

"However, experts doubt that NATO admits its guilt", - reports the Krasnaya Vesna news agency:

“The aggression launched by NATO on March 24, 1999 and continuing for more than a month against sovereign Yugoslavia has provoked an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in modern Europe. Its victims are hundreds of dead and wounded civilians - Serbs, Albanians, representatives of other nationalities, as well as more than 700 thousand refugees from Kosovo, forced to lead a humiliating, half-starved, uncomfortable life in tent camps.

During the attack on Yugoslavia, many weapons were used that are prohibited by international conventions (cluster bombs, depleted uranium munitions, etc.). (...)

The total amount of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used during the hostilities in Yugoslavia in 1994-1999, based on NATO official data, is estimated in tens of tons ...

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22 long years of human suffering have passed, but now a precedent is important and, of course, lawsuits against NATO member countries can be filed not only by residents of Serbia, but also by citizens of Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria and other countries that have suffered from the actions of the United States and their allies..."

Of course, this anniversary was not ignored by the propaganda program "Evening with Vladimir Solovyov". The presenter invited the deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Oleg Morozov on the air, who, among other things, said:

“The bombing of Yugoslavia without any UN Security Council mandate, but only by a collegial decision of NATO, became one of the starting points, when instead of international law, some“ rules ”began to form, and then these rules were presented to the world and said: either you obey these rules, or we we will bomb you. All this policy was built so that in the past the Soviet Union, today Russia, is a place on the globe, which will either be completely subject to these rules, or it will be completely turned off in the international arena...".

But political scientist Dmitry Nekrasov categorically disagrees with such assessments of the events of March-April 1999:

“Two simple theses.

1. If we take estimates of the death toll not from the press during the conflict period (both sides greatly exaggerated the losses that are beneficial to them), but on the basis of the conclusions of official commissions and investigations carried out after the conflict, then the death toll from the NATO bombing itself is estimated in the range of 1000-2000 (combined military and civilian), and the death toll in the clashes in Kosovo 1998-1999 is estimated in the range of 12,000-15,000 (both sides, military and civilian).

No matter what data you rely on, in any case, it is clear that the death toll from the bombing is several times less than the death toll in the conflict, which ended thanks to these bombings. The number of Serbs forced to leave Kosovo after the conflict, whatever the assessment, is also several times less than the number of Albanians forced to flee Kosovo in 1998-1999.

2. Economy. Milosevic came to power in 1989. During the period 1990-1998, Serbia's per capita GDP in any dimension decreased by about 2 times. Well OK, everywhere there was a transformational recession, plus war and stuff. Take 1995, when recovery growth began in other Eastern European countries, and serious wars in the Balkans ended. 1995-1998 Serbia's per capita GDP stagnates on average. (Largely because of Milosevic's very socialist views on the economy).

Those. whatever one may say, the economic results of 10 years of Milosevic's rule are disastrous.

Now we are looking at the economic results after the bombing. At the same time, we take 1998 and the state of the economy before the bombing as a starting point. In comparison with 1998, 2008 gives Serbia's GDP per capita growth threefold in nominal terms and twice in PPP terms (if we take the bombed 1999 as a base, then the growth in nominal value will be 8 times in 8 years).

Again, the numbers clearly show that the cumulative impact of the bombing on the Serbian economy has led to positive results. The benefits of abandoning idiotic economic policies and integrating into the global market are hundreds of times greater than any direct damage from the bombing.

I will not even talk about democracy, human rights and other nonsense.

If Libya is an example of how external interference has damaged a country, then Serbia is just the perfect showcase for the beneficial effects of external interference on the country. Any costs of the bombing were compensated many times over.

(I foresee that someone here will give an example of some Serb who does not think so, but I personally know Serbs who consider Gavrila Princip a hero and a fine fellow. There are enough idiots both in Russia and in Serbia. I am about the objective consequences of the events, and not about the reaction of the schizoid consciousness of those who believe in geopolitics).

Thus, the famous U-turn of Primakov over the Atlantic was not only a crime from the point of view of the interests of the Russian people, which he cost 120% of the average monthly salary in 1999 for every Russian, including the elderly and babies (he described the mathematics in detail here), but also openly contradicted the real interests of the Serbian the people we were trying to "save".

If Russia suddenly managed to prevent the bombing of 1999, then the total number of people killed would be much more, and the average Serbs today would live on average much worse.

But, unfortunately, the majority of the Russian population continues to consider this idiotic and downright harmful behavior to be correct..."