III 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 31 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 17, 2007 Mr. Voinovich (for himself, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Hagel, and Mr. Lieberman) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Expressing support for democratic forces in Serbia and encouraging the people of Serbia to remain committed to a democratic path.

Whereas, in September 2000, the people of Serbia fought for democracy by going to the streets to hold protests and rallies until President Slobodan Milosevic was removed from power and the Government of Serbia was handed over to democratic forces; Whereas, in the following years, the democratic leadership of Serbia worked to establish a democratic society, functional rule of law, a free market economy, and respect for human and minority rights; Whereas the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, has expressed publicly his commitment to the principles of democracy and the dream of leading Serbia forward on this path; Whereas Serbia is a member of several international organizations and has voiced its desire to become a member of the European Union (EU); Whereas Serbia has enacted several military and defense reforms to strengthen ties to its Western allies and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Alliance; Whereas, on September 7, 2006, Serbia signed a Status of Forces Agreement with the United States Government to facilitate Serbia’s participation in joint military exercises and training; Whereas, on September 8, 2006, President Tadic commemorated the beginning of Serbia’s participation in the National Guard State Partnership Program with the Ohio National Guard; Whereas, on December 14, 2006, Serbia was granted accession to the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program, along with its neighbors, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, initiating formal cooperation between NATO and Serbia; Whereas Serbia has transferred 36 individuals indicted for war crimes to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including Milosevic and some of his top officials, and provided thousands of documents to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICTY; Whereas Serbia has taken some additional steps, under the supervision of the ICTY and the international community, to enact judicial reforms and establish special courts to try individuals indicted for war crimes in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Croatia; Whereas Serbia has failed to arrest war criminal Ratko Mladic for the horrific crimes he committed at Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prevented Serbia’s earlier participation in the PfP program and its progression in EU accession talks; Whereas, on January 21, 2007, Serbia will hold democratic parliamentary elections to determine Serbia’s future leadership at this critical juncture in Serbia’s history; Whereas Albanian parties in southern Serbia will participate in the parliamentary elections for the first time in over 15 years; and Whereas a strong, stable, and democratic Serbia is critical to the future of the region: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of the Senate that— (1)the United States should be committed to a strong relationship with a democratic Serbia as Serbia moves toward its goals of membership in the European Union (EU) and cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); (2)the inclusion of Serbia in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program was a critical step in bringing Serbia closer to the Euro-Atlantic Alliance; (3)Serbia will now have the opportunity to enact defense reforms and apply for a Membership Action Plan for NATO; (4)Serbia should continue its progress on reform, including defense and judiciary reforms and reforms in the area of human and minority rights; (5)Serbia should move quickly to fulfill its obligations to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, including by immediately arresting Ratko Mladic and transferring him to the Hague because this step is essential for Serbia to be admitted into the EU and NATO; (6)as Serbia continues to work toward integration in Euro-Atlantic institutions, the United States should continue and increase its defense and security cooperation with the Government of Serbia, including through education, training, and technical cooperation, to assist Serbia in the reform process and in fulfilling the requirements for membership in NATO; and (7)the United States should remain a friend to the people of Serbia as they continue on the path of democracy.