Long term consequences of bombing

Belgrade, December 18 (Tanjug) - NATO operations in Yugoslavia have "dramatically aggravated" the environmental situation and will in the long run affect the health and quality of life of the generations to come, it is said in today's statement of the environmental protection committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe submitted to Tanjug from Paris.

In the draft recommendation, the Committee quotes that the countries that had participated in military operations ignored international regulations aimed at curbing environmental hazards in military conflicts, especially article 55 and 56 from the first additional protocol of Geneva Convention from 1949.

European MPs recommended further financial assistance for non-government organizations dealing with environmental pollution after wars. They also urged the drafting of an international convention for limiting even further environmental pollution during military conflicts.

In his report, Ukrainian Sergey Kuryukin said that the circulation of pollutants through the air, water, and soil, resulting directly or indirectly from the war campaign in FR of Yugoslavia, affected the entire southeastern Europe. According to Kuryukin, warheads charged with depleted uranium, discharge of toxins into the river Danube, fires in industrial facilities, and exhaust fumes from NATO planes were the most prominent causes of pollution.

Kuryukin, who represents the "Green party" in Ukrainian Parliament, said that pollutions of the environment were evident from the beginning and so "we can assume that they were deliberate".