Belgrade: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, NATO has not yet provided an explanation for the illegal bombing campaign it launched against Yugoslavia 24 years ago.

Vucic claimed that NATO's attack marked the moment when "modern international law finally died" while speaking at a ceremony in the northern city of Sombor to remember the victims of the deadly 1999 airstrikes that claimed thousands of Serbian lives.

"24 years have gone by. Parts of our territory were torn apart by you. The Serbian president declared, "You killed 79 children, 2,500 people, not just civilians, but also soldiers and police.

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"Who are you to murder our police officers and soldiers who are on their soil and in their nation? Where did you obtain the authority to murder our police and soldiers? Who granted you that authority?

Vucic recalled how the US-led military coalition attacked a "free and sovereign country" and used the need to halt genocide as an excuse. He also recalled how NATO launched the military intervention despite not receiving approval from the UN Security Council.

The Serbian president claimed that NATO "carried out the aggression" for two reasons. He claimed that their two main goals were to "take Kosovo and Metohija" away from Serbia and to demonstrate that "we are the strongest and we can do everything."

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Serbia must "try to forgive," according to Vucic, but it can only forget everything if it vanishes from existence.

On March 24, 1999, Operation Allied Force, NATO's airstrikes against Yugoslavia on behalf of ethnic Albanian separatists, began. The president gave his speech on this day to commemorate the beginning of the operation.

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The 78-day air campaign, which targeted the cities of Serbia, compelled the Yugoslav armed forces to leave Kosovo. 2008 saw the breakaway region unilaterally declare its independence with the backing of the US and many of its allies. Serbia, Russia, China, and a number of other nations, however, did not recognise the move.