26 years ago, NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) with depleted uranium. Numerous soldiers, including Italians, developed cancer; some received compensation – but in Kosovo itself, the poison is still in the ground.
"I vividly remember the last day," says Emerico Maria Lacetti, a former colonel in the military sector of the Italian Red Cross. During the 1999 Kosovo war, he was stationed in Albania, just a few hundred meters from the Kosovo border. There, he was the commander of a field hospital for refugees from the then Serbian province.
"We stood on containers and watched the bombings – it was like a perverted New Year's fireworks display. Even from a certain distance you could feel the air pressure, the shock waves going through your body. But no, no one informed us about the specific dangers of the weapons used."
Since March 1999, NATO has intervened in the long-running conflict between the Serbian state and the Albanian majority in Kosovo through Operation Allied Force. Over the course of 78 days, NATO has carried out attacks with up to 1.000 aircraft. According to official figures, over 28.000 explosive devices have been dropped, including controversial uranium ammunition, which is suspected of causing cancer.
This ammunition contains a core of Depleted Uranium (DU), which due to its high density – three times that of lead – has enormous penetrating power, and is therefore used against tanks and armored targets. However, upon impact, fine uranium dust can be created that is radioactive and can cause health problems, especially if inhaled.
NATO rejects accusations
When asked about the health risks of such ammunition, NATO only issued a written statement: "We take health and environmental issues very seriously."
It is stated that a DU committee was established in 2001, which concluded "based on independent research" that the use of depleted uranium ammunition in Kosovo "has not caused a lasting health risk to the population."
NATO refers to United Nations reports, for example from 2014. "This is scientific evidence, it was consistent and we stand by it," the statement said. However, this contradicts the rulings of Italian courts based on lawsuits by about 500 Kosovo war veterans who developed cancer after contact with depleted uranium.
Lacetti says he was aware that with his field hospital in Morina, Albania, just off the border with Kosovo, he was in a "hot zone" during the bombing, very close to the active front, which always carries risks. "But what no one told us was that certain types of munitions could pose a long-term danger even if they didn't hit you directly - for example, due to unexploded projectiles nearby or materials used in the production of munitions."
Long illness
When Lacetti returned home in July 1999, he started having breathing problems and went for a checkup.
"The medical staff suddenly became very agitated," he remembers.
The doctor showed him the scan: "Something in my lung, measuring 24x12x14 centimeters." Laceti, then thirty-six years old, was diagnosed with a very aggressive malignant tumor.
Initially, the treatment was successful, but in 2008 the cancer returned. The results of the tissue analysis were shocking: "They found an unusually large number of perfectly round ceramic particles – it was as if I had been standing in a blast furnace." The conclusion was clear: "These particles had been deposited in my body for years and could have caused new damage through inflammation or migration."
Successful lawsuits
Lacetti learned about other soldiers of the same generation who had been in the same locations and had received similar diagnoses. He contacted lawyer Angelo Tartaglia, who represented the sufferers. About 500 members of the military sued the Italian state – and the verdict was in their favor. Among them was Lacetti, who was confirmed by a court in Rome in 2009 as a victim because he was carrying out his duty. The court awarded him compensation.
After the Kosovo War, a commission of the Italian Ministry of Defense investigated a possible link between exposure to depleted uranium munitions and cancer. It found a statistically significant increase in cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in affected soldiers. Other studies, such as a report by the World Health Organization from the same year, however, did not find clear evidence of a direct link between depleted uranium munitions and individual diseases.
Difficult to prove
For Wim Zwainenburg, a member of the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), the case is clear.
"The judge acknowledged that the Italian state had a duty of care towards its soldiers, so compensation was awarded," he explains.
He has been studying the use and consequences of depleted uranium ammunition for more than 16 years.
"My conclusion: it's extremely difficult to make a definitive judgment," he admits, because depleted uranium only works if it gets into the body—most often in the form of fine dust particles that are inhaled. "But the exact amount that people actually ingest has never been properly measured. There are very few reliable long-term studies."
The causes of cancer are often difficult to determine unequivocally - unhealthy habits, environmental influences, genetics, and other factors influence the number of people affected.
"And proving it is difficult," says Zwajnenburg. "Have the sufferers ever touched such a shell or been near a contaminated tank? Uranium can take a year to penetrate the skin. Doctors can't make claims if it's not all clear. People are looking for a clear cause – but the reality is much more complex."
Mandatory decontamination
In 2002, the United Nations adopted a resolution obliging states to notify affected countries and assist in cleaning up contaminated areas after the use of uranium ammunition.
The extent to which NATO has fulfilled this obligation in Kosovo is unknown – the KFOR peacekeeping force, which has been stationed there since the end of the conflict, does not provide answers. Field visits show that in many parts of Kosovo the population knows almost nothing about the possible risks, and decontamination has not been carried out – except in one place in the village of Lugbunari near Gjakova.
"NATO could be criticized not only for using such weapons," says Zwajnenburg, "but even more for not carrying out a cleanup after the war. There are clear protection protocols for soldiers – and for civilians? Nothing. It is unacceptable for them to use toxic ammunition and then simply turn around."
Officially, the material that makes up depleted uranium ammunition is classified as low- to intermediate-level radioactive waste. But "in humid climates, like in the Balkans, shells can corrode and disintegrate, leaving dangerous residue," he explains. Time doesn't help, as uranium's half-life is almost infinite. For Zwainenburg, this shows double standards among states:
"If such a grenade were found in a Dutch park, the area would be cordoned off, special units in protective suits would put it in a lead container and store it safely." When it comes to their own population, the risks are taken extremely seriously - elsewhere, however, not so much.
Lacetti is disappointed that his case, like many others, has not led to any substantive change. "Depleted uranium ammunition is still legal. We have tried every way to ban it – like cluster munitions or anti-personnel mines. We have failed."
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