NATO is immune from legal action. Therefore, it is impossible to sue NATO on cases filed by victims of 1999 Serbia bombings, Serbian lawyer Srdan Aleksic told RIA Novosti.
Two new lawsuits were filed with the High Court in Belgrade on January 20.
"In its statement to the court, the NATO Liaison Office in Serbia indicated that it had full immunity under the jurisdiction of Serbia,” Aleksic said, noting that immunity was granted to the alliance on the basis of the agreement with the Union State of Serbia and Montenegro "On transit participation and support for peacekeeping operations” (dated from 2005), as well as in accordance with the agreement from 2006.
However, it is impossible to apply the law retroactively, the lawyer stressed. Therefore, NATO can not be granted immunity under the agreement that had been signed several years after the bombings.
The bombings in question were carried out as part of Operation Allied Force under NATO's auspices against the then Yugoslavia. The reason for international intervention was the inter-ethnic conflict between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo.