Stellungnahmen der Botschafter der VR China, der USA, Rußlands und der BR Jugoslawien zum NATO-Treffer auf die chinesische Botschaft am 8.5.99
[aus der Dringlichkeits-Sitzung des UN-Sicherheitsrates vom 8.5. frühmorgens]

1. Qin Huasan, UNO-Botschafter der VR China

... The Chinese government reserves the right for taking further measures." - The above is the statement of the Chinese government. [...] The whole embassy, from the fifth floor to the basement, have been destroyed, as the result of this bombing. All the people in the exit apart from those who were sent to the hospital for treatment all other people have withdrawn to the hotels. With regard to this serious instant we express our utmost indignation and strong condemnation. The barbaric action of NATO is a flagrant violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against internationally protected persons including diplomatic agents. Even in times of war it is internationally recognized that the diplomatic instutites should not be violated and the diplomates should be protected. To violate the safety of the diplomatic personnel constitutes a very serious threat to the maintenance of nursery and normal international relations. According to the International Convention this indiscriminating attack constitutes a very serious breach of the convention, and that is a crime of war and should be punished. We strongly demand that NATO should carry out an investigation on this serious incident and account for it. NATO must assume all responsibilities on this. We reserve our right for taking further actions. The frenzied bombardment carried out by NATO, headed by United States in the last 45 days have already resulted in enormous casualty of innocent civilians and now it has come so far to violate a diplomatic mission. This is really shocking. Once again we strongly demand that NATO immediatey stop its air strike against FRY immediately, unconditionally. Thank you, Mr. President.

2. Peter Burleigh, UNO-Botschafter der USA

Mr. President, we have no confirmation of the facts at this time. NATO has opened an investigation of the matter. If NATO was responsible for this incident we are deeply sorry. NATO would never target civilians, and NATO would never target an embassy. But, Mr. President, we and this Council must keep our eye on the big picture. And the big picture is this: that one man alone is responsible for this crisis in the FRY. And his name is Slobodan Milosevic. NATO is taking action in response to Belgrade's sustain, multiyear, outrageous, unacceptable policies of ethnic cleansing, terrorisation and repression of its own citizens in Kosovo. As the world knows we worked for months and months and months on a negotiated settlement with Mr. Milosevic. He never agreed. And, as the world also knows, he triggered a humanitarian catastrophe. Those are the basic facts in the bottom line. We will continue to press the FRY until it agrees to accept NATO's conditions and the G-8 principles. That is the only way out of this current situation. Again, Mr. President, if NATO is responsible for this we deeply regret the incident. Mr. President, I have conveyed my government's regrets and sincere condolences to Embassador Qin, and Secretary of State Albright is conveying the same message to the Chinese Foreign Minister. I Thank you, Mr. President.

3. Sergej Lavrov, Russischer Botschafter bei der UNO

In these unconscionable activities and flagrant violations of the Charter of The United Nations NATO is going beyond all borders, all limits. Every day we hear reports about further civilian casualties, destruction of civilian facilities and installations and of the social and economic infrastructure and of the mass communication media in Yugoslavia. All norms of international war are being flouted. On this 7th of May we witness another tragedy. A NATO strike, a hit on the Embassy of the Chinese People's Republic in the FRY. The personnel there: some were killed, some injured. Serious material damage was done. Russia expresses its deepest condolences to the Government of China and to the families of the victims of this NATO strike. We are really disturbed over this barbaric action. We are outraged over this barbaric action and we call and demand an immediate investigation. The Security Council cannot let this go without any consequences.

Today it is clear to everybody that NATO's military adventurism has absolutely no relationship to the efforts to protect the civilians in Kosovo and to prevent a humanitarian crisis. In fact, to the contrary, the fate of the Cosovars has become mere change and the humanitarian slogan is being used to cover up and conceal the attempts by NATO to destroy the present world order which is based on respect for international law and for the Charter of the United Nations. And that in fact is what the big picture is: not the fact that one single person is responsible for all of this. How many people must be killed, how many people must be left homeless, how many countries must be destabilized in order to punish that one single person? We would appeal to the members of NATO to think before it is too late and immediately to halt their military actions which have already brought such untold suffering to so many people and created a humanitarian catastrophe and has thrown you backwards into the past.

It is essential immediately to shift to a political settlement and as was stated once again on the 7th of May by the Secretary General of the United Nations - and this is what Russia has advocated from the very beginning of the crisis in Kosovo: we have advocated a peaceful settlement within the context of the United Nations, and the Russian leadership has been doing all it can to work to that end. This goal can and must be reached. However, a necessary prerequisite is the immediate halt to the NATO [strike] ...

4. Vladislav Jovanovic, Chargé d'Affaires der BR Jugoslawien bei der UNO

... My country has been a victim of the NATO aggression for 45 days now. NATO attacks have been concentrated primarily on civilian targets, threatening the lives, the environment and the basic human rights of the entire population of the country. The principle of the selection of allegedly ligitimate military targets looks like: hit anything, any time, anywhere. Using over 1.000 planes, NATO has made over 12.000 sorties thus far, launched over 3.000 cruise missiles and dropped more than 10.000 tons of explosives. The tragic toll is 1.200 civilian lives lost and the wounding of over 5.000 people many of whom will remain disabled for life. Can a lost or ruined life of any human being be cynically called collateral damage? Is this term fitting to describe the dead of over 100 children brought by NATO bombs? No mention of collateral damage or incidental killing of people and destruction of property is made in the Geneva Convention of 1949 or in the Statute of the International Crime of War Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

Human life has no price tag on it and cannot be compared to anything else. However, the NATO bombs threaten the lives of the entire population of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Who can live in a country in which houses, bridges, roads, railroads, schools, hospitals, water supply system, heating, or house appliances plants or public transport are being systematically destroyed? Graphit bombs have short-circuited the Power [...] of the country, leaving more than 5 million people without power or water and, by extension, without the most essential living provisions. NATO has used weapons banned by international conventions, causing an ecological catastrophe. Over 20.000 cluster bombs have been dropped thus far while depleted uranium ammunition has been used too. No exception has been made for cultural monuments: cemeteries or memorials to victims of Nazi atrocities in the last war. No army so far has vandalized Serbian medieval monasteries and churches; they survived centuries of ... respect of all - except NATO strategists.

The NATO countries which, in their conceit, like to think of themselves as thunder-bearers of democracy and the rights to a different opinion dispatched their plans to drop bombs on TV centres in my country, committing in that way the crime against the freedom of speech and media. The buildings of TV Belgrade and TV Novy Sad have been totally destroyed, as well as the Uscevisy Center in Belgrade which housed three private TV and four radio stations. [Antennas?] of TV transmitters have been hit, too, including TV transmitter on Mount Avala, the largest facility of the kind in Yugoslavia and the beckon [Wahrzeichen] above Belgrade which saluted passengers and beckoned to many generations of Yugoslavs from far that they were coming home at last.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been committed to a peaceful solution of the crisis in Kosova and Metohija. I would like to remind the members of the Security Council that all activities of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Kosova and Metohija were unilaterally stopped on 6th April. That the Government of Serbian Yugoslavia have called on all refugees and displaced persons to return home, guaranteeing them safety and security. And that constructive talks were conducted on a number of occasions between the highest representatives of Serbian Yugoslavia with Dr. Ibrahim Rugova. However, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has the right and duty to protect itself from aggression. The right and duty are enshrined in their constitution as well as in the Charter of the United Nations and international law.

Mr. President, yesterday aggressors' four planes targeted and destroyed the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Belgrade. The embassy was hit by at least two missiles. According to preliminary information 26 embassy staff members are wounded (2 very seriously) and 2 persons were killed. The embassy building is in the exclusively residential area of New Belgrade. There is not any military target around. The attack is in gross violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949, an international law. It is without any doubt a war crime. It is more and more evident that NATO is waging a total war against one sovereign country and its people. It is not only Yugoslavia that is targeted but peace and security in the region as well. The neighbouring countries are already involved in the aggression. The economy of the region is seriously disrupted by the aggression. The main waterway in Europe, the Danube, is out of use. The consequences of the bombing on the environment of the region are devastating. This criminal aggression of Yugoslavia should cease immediately. The Security Council has failed, up to now, to condemn the aggression and halt the bombing. [...]

[Transkription der Übersetzungen: Dr. Wolfgang NÄSER 8.5.99]