National Technical University of Athens
University of Belgrade

Appeal of the Rectors of the National Technical University of Athens and the University of Belgrade to the International Scientific Community

We, representatives of the teaching staff and students of our respective Universities, have met in Belgrade, now continually bombed by NATO aircraft. In Belgrade, as everywhere in Yugoslavia, civilians, women and children are being killed, schools, hospitals, residential buildings, bridges, media infrastructure and other civilian objects are being destroyed, which constitutes a crime against peace and humanity, as well as genocide directed against the people of Yugoslavia. It is our wish to initiate a lasting co-operation with a view to the preservation and restoration of the monuments and the infrastructure of a free Balkan people.

NATO is celebrating its 50th anniversary by systematically and mercilessly destroying the civilization and heritage resulting out of the hard work of this dignified people who fought bravely against fascism during the Second World War.

This war is being waged by violating all the rules of International Law and is based on the principle of those in power always being in the right, well known in history as serving one's own selfish interests only. In the final analysis, NATO causes untold suffering to the national minority which it is allegedly trying to protect, and destabilizes the region as a whole. It has taken hundreds of years of struggle and sacrifice to make the Balkan region what it is today. The NATO aggression poses a threat to the established borderlines and peaceful co-existence in this sensitive region, with unforeseeable consequences for the entire Balkan area.

The vision and mission of science and technology as creative and productive forces is to contribute to the development of mankind, to improve the quality of life, and to preserve peace and strive for friendship and co-operation among people.

The above-mentioned self-evident conclusions, based on facts, historical knowledge and common sense, have motivated us to issue a dramatic appeal to the international scientific community.

We call upon the scientists and Universities all over the world:

• to inform their people of the unjust, illegal, irrational and cruel war waged in the Balkan area;
• to assume a leading role in all peaceful activities of their countries aimed at putting an immediate stop to this war;
• to refuse participation in all research programs funded by NATO.

We, workers in the field of science and technology, are here to serve peace and not war:

• people want to and have the right to live in peace, under the rules of international law;
• science and technology should serve peace and not war;
• all our efforts should be focused on putting an immediate stop to this war.

Signed in Belgrade, on April 24th 1999