Serbia commemorates 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia

Serbia will neither surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the NATO alliance, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday during an event commemorating the 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. 

On the Remembrance Day for the Victims of the NATO Aggression on Yugoslavia, people gathered in Prokuplje, some 260 kilometers south of capital Belgrade, to pay tribute to the victims of the NATO bombings.

"They (NATO) wanted to destroy our homeland, to destroy Serbia and dismember it, but they failed," Vucic said.

"Twenty-five years have passed, and we remain unbroken... We will never consent to the dismemberment of Serbia! Kosovo and Metohija shall never willingly be torn from us," Vucic stressed.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia rejects it and considers Kosovo its own province.

The event began with a somber commemoration led by Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije, who later stressed in his speech that the bombing revealed "the depth of human cruelty when one chooses to abandon humanity."

After the national anthem and a minute of silence, Andjelka Tosovic, whose house was hit by a projectile during the NATO bombing that killed her 11-month-old sister and her father, said "it wouldn't heal over time."

President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik condemned NATO's violation of international law and disregard for innocent lives, including newborn children, while praising Serbia's defiance and resilience.

"We remain dignified people who cherish our freedom," Dodik said, emphasizing the importance of unity as reflected in the widespread observance of the Remembrance Day.

In 1999, the U.S.-led NATO forces carried out continuous airstrikes for 78 days against Yugoslavia, leaving more than 8,000 civilians dead or injured and nearly 1 million more displaced.

Cluster bombs and depleted uranium bombs banned by international conventions were used in the strikes, which also caused widespread destruction of infrastructure.

The Chinese embassy, where three journalists lost their lives, and the building of the Serbian national broadcaster RTS, were also among the targets.

(With input from Xinhua)