How Serbia Can Learn from Germany’s Post-War Remorse

This year was no different. On the eve of the anniversary of the start of the NATO bombing, Serbian Public Broadcaster RTS aired interviews with two former officials who were convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Kosovo, Nikola Sainovic and Vladimir Lazarevic, giving them the platform to deny that crimes were committed.

A contrasting view on the Kosovo war came from Germany's current ambassador to Belgrade, Thomas Schieb, who said last week that he was aware that the bombing of Yugoslavia was controversial as there was no UN Security Council authorisation for it, but that the decision "had to be made in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe" and avoid genocide.

Although such opinions are not new, Schieb's words were met with strong criticism in Serbia, particularly from politicians, both from the government and opposition. There were calls for the German ambassador's expulsion, accusations that he used the language of World War II occupying forces, and parallels drawn between the Nazi bombing of Serbia in 1941 and the NATO air campaign of 1999. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Schieb's statement was untrue.

But instead of ignoring the crimes committed by Serbian forces in Kosovo before and during the NATO bombing, there are few things that Serbia's politicians could learn from their German counterparts.

Drawing parallels between World War II and the break-up of Yugoslavia, particularly the war in Kosovo, is impossible because the historical context, the ideologies involved and the scale of the crimes are incomparable - but what these conflicts do have in common is that the violations that were committed are very well-documented.

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