I.P.O. Information Service
United Nations / Challenges to the International Rule of Law
Belgrade/Vienna, 6 April 2019
RE/27197c-is
The unilateral use of force by NATO countries against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia constituted the first major challenge to the international rule of law after the end of the Cold War. The veto power of the main intervening countries made it impossible for the United Nations Security Council to act in the defense of international peace and to enforce one of the basic principles of international law and the UN Charter, namely the prohibition of aggressive war.
Speaking at a series of international gatherings in the Serbian capital, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the President of the International Progress Organization (I.P.O.), Dr. Hans Köchler, said that only a new balance of power at the global level will prevent illegal uses of force by major global players in the future. As long as these conditions of realpolitik are not in place, the United Nations system of collective security will remain ineffective and interested parties may always see the NATO war of 1999 as a precedent for future unilateral action, the President of the I.P.O. explained.
The debates in the Serbian capital were initiated by the
Fourth Belgrade Strategic Dialogue
on the theme “Twenty Years from the Bombing of Yugoslavia – Lessons for
European Security in the 21st
Century.” In his inaugural address, the President of Serbia,
Aleksandar Vučić,
outlined the country’s foreign policy in the context of European
cooperation, stressing Serbia’s commitment to a peaceful resolution of
international disputes through negotiations. He also stated that Serbia
follows a state doctrine of neutrality and does not consider joining
any military alliance. Among the speakers of the Strategic Dialogue were
Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch
(Austria), who served as EU negotiator during the conflict of 1999;
Dimitrios Droutsas,
former Foreign Minister of Greece; and
Andrei Turchak,
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation
Council. The President of the I.P.O. delivered a statement on the
principle of non-interference into the internal affairs of states and
problems of its enforcement.
At a
subsequent
conference
of international experts, jointly organized by the Institute of
International Politics and Economics (IIPE) and the Faculty of Security
Studies of the University of Belgrade, experts of international law,
political science, history and economy from Austria, Brazil, China,
Hungary, Israel, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the
United States analyzed the implications of the events 20 years ago for
the future of international relations. The conference was opened by the
Prime Minister of Serbia,
Ms. Ana
Brnabić.The
President of the I.P.O. delivered a research paper on the legal
implications of the 1999 war, outlining the contradictions of
contemporary international law and calling for a reform of the UN system
of collective security.
