Dear Mr. Vucic,
I address you in this open letter to express my dismay, and my protest, regarding the hiring of Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Great Britain as an advisor to the Government of the Republic of Serbia. I am a Serbian and British writer, and since the start of the civil war in Yugoslavia in 1990 the vice president of the Parliament for Serbian Unity for Europe for 13 years, thereafter becoming an independent lobbyist until the present day. My last lobbying action was on 4 February 2015 to the British Parliament, to protest against radioactive pollution in Serbia, the result of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, which have caused a large increase in leukemia and cancer-related illnesses. I think that qualifies me and gives me the moral right to address you and state my position on the above items.
A few days ago I returned from Belgrade, where I learned how much dissatisfaction and indignation has been caused in the country by your collaboration with the firm of Tony Blair Associates, including Tony Blair and his “spin doctor” Alastair Campbell. Your ignorant and arrogant attitude towards what is happening on the European political scene today is quite a surprise to me. It is hard to believe that none of your embassy staff in London advised you that Tony Blair is one of the most unpopular figures in his own country, the UK. Or has our diplomatic services been overlooked for more opportunistic reasons, as in other cases? However, His Excellency Ognjen Pribićević can inform you that Tony Blair dare not appear in public, even to sign his own book at a bookstore, for fear of attack. He is extremely unpopular within his own Labour Party, as he cashes in on the high-ranking connections he accrued in his earlier role as Prime Minister for his personal gain. In Britain, barely a day passes without hostile commentary appearing in media articles.
Anthony Blair is under investigation – The Chilcot inquiry – on charges that he lied to Parliament, claiming that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It turned out later that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and that along with Bush and the Americans this lie was coined to start a war against Iraq. I hope you know that the result of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq is hundreds of thousands of dead and displaced persons and a war that continues to this day.
Is it really necessary to explain why Tony Blair is extremely unpopular and hated in Serbia? He is the western politician with the most extreme attitude against the Serbs. He is remembered for his statement in 1999 that the Serbs were “barbarians” to be destroyed. Along with Madeleine Albright, he was the main instigator of NATO’s military intervention in Yugoslavia, its driving force. His government has acted outside the law of the United Nations, without a resolution of the Security Council, which is the only organisation that has the right to authorise military intervention. As I hope you are aware, the bombing targeted economic and civilian places of vital importance for the country, television stations, the pharmaceutical industry, even schools, hospitals and homes for the elderly. The result of the bombing was 2,568 victims, including 154 children, more than 9,000 wounded, many of whom are in a permanent state of disability. The damage caused by sanctions and bombing amounts to $96 billion, according to estimates of independent international organisations.
After NATO troops entered the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija on the 12 June 1999, Tony Blair’s government organised a planned, systematic campaign against Serbia, that would rid responsibility for the crimes committed by NATO countries and turn the intervention in Kosovo into a “success story”. My book “Yours sincerely” published by Prometheus from Novi Sad shows and proves that crimes against Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo have been systematically obscured or marginalised, thus encouraging the activities of Albanian extremists. Alastair Campbell, who now “advises” the government of Serbia, played a major role in this.
Hiring the firm of Tony Blair Associates as advisers to the Government is extremely counterproductive. A large number of Serbs in the Diaspora have defended the truth about Serbia, aided morally and materially, and in fact made great sacrifices during the most difficult times, and consider it an insult that this man, against whose lies and injustices they fought, defines politics in Serbia today. A simple analysis of the events of the past shows that Serbia lost control over Kosovo, thanks to Blair and his policy towards Serbia. You can be sure that this will have a profound and lasting impact on the attitude of Serbian diaspora to the homeland.
Hiring Tony Blair adviser to the Government of Serbia is an insult to the innocent victims who died in interventions that Tony Blair initiated in 1999 in Yugoslavia and all patriotic forces who wish the best for Serbia. This is a national disgrace, for which you, Mr. Vučić, bear sole responsibility.
Yours sincerely,
Radomir Putniković
