MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th December, 2019) Wesley Clark, the former commander of NATO forces in Europe who gave out orders to bomb Yugoslavia, is now working with several companies that conduct business in the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
Zakharova's comments come after Clark claimed in a recent interview with a US media outlet that Russia used the Balkans for its political interests and even resorted to bribing local politicians.
"Is everyone serious here? Who is talking about this? Who would dare to talk about it! Wesley Clark should talk about how much compensation he received from Kosovars for tearing the region away from Serbia ... The retired American general is now on the board of directors of the Canadian energy company called Envidity," Zakharova said at a press briefing.
According to the spokeswoman, this company has the right to explore natural resources on almost a third of Kosovo's territory. Additionally, Clark is associated with Geo Minerale, a firm engaged in exporting scrap metal from the region, she said.
"Were the orders to bomb the region made to receive profitable contracts later on? Therefore, when they talk about certain selfish interests, they must, first of all, look among the people about whom I just said," she stated.
On March 24, 1999, bypassing approval from the UN Security Council, NATO launched a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia to intervene in the armed confrontation between the Kosovo Liberation Army, an ethnic-Albanian militia that had supported Kosovo's independence since the 1990s, and the Serbian forces. The NATO operation ended on June 10 with an estimated 2,500 people, including 89 children, killed during the campaign.
