Former NATO Secretary General Wesley Clark gave a speech on June 12, 1999, dedicated to Kosovo and its liberation.
Clark stated that June 12 was the most significant day in the entire operation in which they had been engaged for weeks and months.
He thanked NATO’s military personnel for their courage and dedication, affirming that their families were and would remain proud of them.
“Not only have our forces conducted a successful air campaign that forced Milosevic to meet our five central demands, but they have also been responsible for heroic work on the humanitarian front,” Clark said.
“Our work, of course, is far from complete, and the dangers are far from over. Our forces are entering a difficult territory, but they know that their cause is just, and they will do everything necessary to secure Kosovo and prepare for the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees who have been expelled from their homes by this brutal ethnic cleansing.”
General Clark asserted that Slobodan Milosevic had realized that NATO was winning and that his army’s forces had to leave Kosovo.
“At the beginning, we said we would systematically and progressively attack, degrade, and destroy if President Milosevic did not meet the international community’s demands and ultimately destroy the Serbian forces in Kosovo, their facilities, logistics, and all their assets. President Milosevic understood, and we did just that, and Milosevic was convinced.”
“When asked how long it would take, NATO leaders said it could take days, weeks, or months; ultimately, it would depend on how much punishment and suffering President Milosevic was willing to impose on his armed forces. That was also true, and we have been saying for weeks that we were winning, he was losing, and he knew it. I think events have borne us out in every respect.”
“Now, another major task is underway, the extraction of Serbian forces and the introduction of our forces is a major logistical operation that is not without risk,” Clark said.
