NATO's Attempt to Dismember Serbia Fails: President Vucic

On Sunday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that his country will never surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

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On the Remembrance Day for the Victims of the NATO Aggression on Yugoslavia, people gathered in Prokuplje to pay tribute to the victims of the NATO bombings.

"They wanted to destroy our homeland, to destroy Serbia and dismember it, but they failed," Vucic said at a commemoration event marking the anniversary of NATO bombing.

"25 years have passed, and we remain unbroken... We will never consent to the dismemberment of Serbia! Kosovo and Metohija shall never willingly be torn from us," he stressed.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia rejects it and considers Kosovo its own province.

The event began with a somber commemoration led by Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije, who later stressed in his speech that the bombing revealed "the depth of human cruelty when one chooses to abandon humanity."

President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik condemned NATO's violation of international law and disregard for innocent lives, while praising Serbia's defiance and resilience.

"We remain dignified people who cherish our freedom," Dodik said, emphasizing the importance of unity as reflected in the widespread observance of the Remembrance Day.

In 1999, the U.S.-led NATO forces carried out continuous airstrikes for 78 days against Yugoslavia, leaving over 8,000 civilians dead or injured and nearly 1 million more displaced.

Cluster bombs and depleted uranium bombs banned by international conventions were used in the strikes, which also caused wide destruction of infrastructure.