Nikolic: We have not heard sincere apology

VARVARIN - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims of the bombing in Varvarin on Monday as part of a ceremony marking 15 years since the NATO aggression.

"Do not expect of me to forget everything that happened during the aggression in Serbia, for 78 days and nights, starting from March 24 to June 9, 1999," Nikolic said, paying tribute to the victims on the day when NATO air strikes began 15 years ago.

"Do not expect of me to forget that NATO air forces bombarded with four projectiles the bridge over the Velika Morava River in Varvarin at around 1 p.m. on the great religious holiday, Trinity Sunday, May 30 that year," the Serbian president underlined.

Nikolic noted that the attack left 10 dead, 17 seriously injured, and dozens of people with minor wounds.

"A majority of us did not forget or forgive. Some might even do that, but we have not heard a sincere apology for that ruthless bombing of the bridge on the religious holiday," the president said.

"All these years, we have been remembering the victims of the realization of political objectives by world powers. It would be less difficult for us if, alongside the names of thousands of innocent victims that we all, and not just their families, remember and commemorate, we would learn the name of at least one man who has been punished for ordering or executing the attacks. We, the Serbs, are a strange people- we might even forgive most of them," Nikolic underscored.

He said that the operation with the callous codename "Merciful Angel" mostly claimed the lives of the innocent and that airplanes of the 18 NATO member states threw bombs, as in virtual games, destroying civilian targets, killing children and the...