The Czech president personally apologized for the bombing in the spring of 1999, which he said relieved his conscience. At that time, the Prime Minister and the Czech Republic were new members of NATO, and after only twelve days of membership came the bombing of Serbia, then still part of the former Yugoslavia. In the end, Zeman supported the event, but then with a gnashing of teeth, stating that the event was decided before our entry.
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He wasn’t the only one who didn’t like it. The second star of the then Czech political scene, ODS chairman Václav Klaus, was also against, part of the government’s CSSD was against, as were the Communists and others. The then Foreign Minister Jan Kavan tried to stop the bombing in cooperation with Greece. The reason was obvious. NATO action took place without UN sanction. As the current Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, Radek Vondráček, remarked, “this is the dark history of NATO”.
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Correctly speaking, however, this was the beginning of a dark history that continued with other unapproved, on the basis of false information or simple will actions taken. An example is the US engagement in Iraq or Libya. Worse, it was a seal of UN distrust. The air war against Serbia was not a defensive war, which is the only fair war, although Václav Havel tried to explain at the time that the aggression was without a UN mandate, but still waged for good reasons.
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For almost a quarter of a century, we know that the events of that time were not black and white; not only some Serbs but also a large part of Kosovo’s established political elite ended up in an international court. A territory that has declared independence, contrary to all original expectations, and is one of the cornerstones of Serbian statehood and the national story. In addition, Kosovo’s independence is currently not recognized by the five members of the European Union.
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Forcing Serbia to give it up is similar to forcing the Czech Republic to give up Bílá Hora, where the estates were defeated in 1620, which was the end of the uprising and the beginning of violent re-Catholicization. Similarly, the Serbs lost the battle of the Kosovo field with the Ottomans in 1389, and lost their statehood. Legend has it that Orthodox Christian monasteries have an organ forged from the swords of Serbian knights killed in battle.
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Miloš Zeman thus relieved his conscience, knowing that even a large part of the Czech public was not in favor of bombing Serbia. Since the time of Masaryk, the then Czechoslovakia was bound by close relations with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later Yugoslavia. Masaryk even had a Serbian passport, the Czech Republic still has a magnificent embassy in a lucrative place, the central part of Belgrade is called Bohemia due to its architectural achievements. Good, more than a century of relationships, it was a shame to damage. It is good that they have repaired and are correcting, because there was a stain of war on them, which was not ours, and we came to it as blind to the violin.
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The Czech Republic and Serbia have done nothing to each other. Foreign Minister Kulhánek stated with satisfaction that the current relations are excellent, even thanks to the President, and that is how it should be. This is about foreign policy, about setting up cooperation appropriately so that there are no bilateral problems. If Serbia manages to join the EU, the Czech Republic may have another ally in forming coalitions. If not, the friendship can continue, and resolving the issue of Serbia-Kosovo relations is a task for the powers and powers that have been and are involved. We can continue to have good relations in the future, because we need to look ahead.
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