Harold Pinter — the British Nobel laureate against the NATO aggression

Harold Pinter (1930-2008), one of the greatest British playwrights of the 20th century and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005, was among the most prominent voices that opposed the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. At a time when the British government of Tony Blair was one of the most ardent advocates of the intervention, Pinter spoke out against it publicly and without hesitation.

A voice of reason in London

When the NATO bombing began on 24 March 1999, Harold Pinter reacted immediately. He wrote a series of letters in which he condemned the bombing as illegal, immoral and counterproductive. He addressed the British media, but ran into a wall of silence — in an atmosphere of patriotic fervour and support for Blair's policy, few media outlets were willing to publish criticism of the NATO intervention.

Pinter would not let himself be discouraged. He spoke at public gatherings, wrote articles for alternative media, signed petitions and used every forum available to him to express his opposition to the war.

„NATO is a criminal"

Pinter's stance was clear and merciless: „The bombing of Yugoslavia is a criminal act. NATO has no United Nations mandate. This is aggression by one group of countries against a sovereign state." He criticised Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, calling them war criminals who used „humanitarian intervention" as a cover for geopolitical interests.

He was particularly sharp in criticising the double standards — while NATO bombed Serbia under the pretext of protecting human rights in Kosovo, those same countries were helping Turkey, which was waging a war against the Kurds, and Israel, which was occupying Palestinian territories. „Human rights are important only when they serve the interests of the powerful," Pinter said.

The Nobel lecture — an indictment against the war

When he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005, Harold Pinter used his lecture to deliver one of the most powerful condemnations of American and British foreign policy ever pronounced at such a high level. In the speech titled „Art, Truth and Politics", he directly mentioned the bombing of Yugoslavia as an example of criminal policy:

„The bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO was absolutely and entirely illegal. It was not approved by the UN Security Council. It was an act carried out without any legal basis, a pure demonstration of military power masked by humanitarian rhetoric."

This lecture was broadcast around the world and had an enormous resonance. For many people, it was the first time they heard such a clear condemnation of the NATO bombing from a respected public figure from the West.

Courage in unpopularity

Pinter's stance towards the bombing of Serbia was not popular in Britain. In a country that was one of the main NATO allies and whose prime minister was one of the most ardent advocates of the intervention, criticism of the war was considered almost treason. Pinter was ridiculed, attacked in the media and marginalised by the cultural establishment.

But Pinter paid no attention to the pressures. For him, speaking the truth was a moral imperative that transcended national politics and political correctness. „The responsibility of the artist," he said, „is to tell the truth, even when that truth is uncomfortable."

Legacy

Harold Pinter died in 2008. His legacy extends far beyond literature — he left the example of an intellectual who used his reputation to tell the truth to the powerful, regardless of the cost. For the Serbian people, Pinter was an ally from an unexpected direction — a Briton who stood up against his own government to defend the right of small nations to sovereignty and dignity.

At a time when bombs were falling on Belgrade, the voice of Harold Pinter was a thin but unwavering flame of truth in the darkness of propaganda. Lest it be forgotten.