France Defends Stance in Strikes Against Serbia
France on Friday rebuffed a U.S. general’s accusation that it put NATO pilots at risk during the Kosovo crisis by preventing a rapid escalation of airstrikes, saying all sorties were decided by alliance consensus.
“There were talks between allies [about air attacks] and finally accord among them. Consensus was always respected,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne Gazeau-Secret said. “The air campaign against Serbia was a success and should not be a subject for Franco-American controversy.”
Gazeau-Secret was replying to questions about Senate testimony in Washington on Thursday by the U.S. general who commanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s warplanes over Yugoslavia. Lt. Gen. Michael Short lashed out at France for what he said was its repeated vetoing of targets in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
French officials have long acknowledged that they opposed bombing downtown Belgrade for fear of civilian casualties.
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