No. 51/1999
Date: 24 March 1999

Norway's Prime Minister says NATO's action against Yugoslavia is deeply tragic, but necessary

“It is deeply tragic that in the heart of Europe a situation has arisen making it necessary for NATO to use military means to achieve a settlement of the conflict in Kosovo. No NATO country has wanted this development. We have done our best to achieve a political solution through negotiations”.

Norway’s Prime Minister, Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik, said this in his first comment after the opening of NATO’s military action against Yugoslavia on Wednesday.

Mr. Bondevik said units of the Royal Norwegian Air Force are part of the NATO forces that have now been activated. “Our participation is an expression of the solidarity upon which the NATO alliance rests, and of our wish to prevent conflict and secure peace in our part of the world”, he said.

“Regrettably, efforts to achieve a peaceful negotiation have not been successful”, the Prime Minister said. “Over the last days we have rather seen an increase in the use of violence by the Yugoslavian regime. The people of Kosovo have seen further sufferings, and tens of thousands of refugees have been driven from their homes. Basic human rights are brutally being pushed aside”, Mr. Bondevik said.

“We cannot allow this development to continue”, Mr. Bondevik said. “NATO has constantly made it clear that we would be ready to use power if negotiations should not succeed, in order to stop the use of violence, avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and achieve a political solution. The alternative to military action is now that sufferings continue, and that the risk of increased destabilisation of the whole region will increase”, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said it is now up to President Slobodan Milosevic to show his willingness to go for a political solution. “We have no other wish than to return to the negotiation table as soon as possible. The chairman of the OSCE, Norway’s Foreign Minister Knut Vollebæk has today underlined this in a telephone conversation with President Milosevic”, Mr. Bondevik said.

The Prime Minister referred to the UN Security Council resolution 1199, of 23 September 1998, stating that the situation in Kosovo represents a threat to peace and security in the entire region. The Council has later passed an additional resolution on the matter. “It is on this basis of international law, and on the basis of the escalation of acts of war and the dramatically deteriorated humanitarian situation, that NATO has been forced to take military action against Yugoslavia”, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik said.