[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 92 (Thursday, June 26, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S6492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      DELAYING THE LOAN TO CROATIA

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today in support of delaying a World 
Bank loan to Croatia until that country fully meets the obligations it 
agreed to when it signed the Dayton Accords in November 1995.
  Two days ago, the Clinton administration announced that it would 
attempt to block a $30 million World Bank loan to Croatia until Zagreb 
extradites Croats indicted on war crimes charges and allows Serbian 
refugees to return to their homes in Croatian territory.
  It appears that we may have difficulty in persuading other countries 
on the World Bank's board to go along with this postponement, but I 
believe that the United States should stick to its principles.
  Mr. President, the horrifying wars that took place in Bosnia and 
Croatia from 1991 to 1995 had many and complex causes. One of them was 
the thinly disguised desire of Serbian President Milosevic and Croatian 
President Tudjman to carve up Bosnia and Herzegovina. The revolt and 
temporary secession from Croatia by the Krajina Serbs--who themselves 
were led by extremely unsavory individuals who also carried out 
atrocities--interrupted the planned cooperation of the two rapacious 
strongmen in Belgrade and Zagreb.
  There is also no doubt, Mr. President, that the Croatian army--
trained by private Americans--played a valuable role in turning the 
tide in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the summer and fall of 1995 as part 
of its successful campaign to oust the Krajina Serbs from Croatia.
  But, Mr. President, the behavior of President Tudjman since then has 
been deplorable. He has knowingly coddled indicted war criminals, 
despite his obligation under Dayton to turn them over to the 
International Tribunal at The Hague. On numerous other occasions, I 
have spoken out in this Chamber against the atrocities--murder, rape, 
and vile ``ethnic cleansing''--that were perpetrated against innocent 
civilians in Bosnia.
  Most expert observers believe that Bosnian Serbs were responsible for 
the majority of these heinous acts. But several Bosnian Croats and some 
Croats from Croatia apparently were among the sadists, as were a few 
Muslims. That President Tudjman refuses to hand over the indicted who 
are living in Croatia is an affront to civilized people everywhere, and 
a direct slap in the face of the United States, which brokered the 
Dayton Accords.
  Moreover, despite pretty rhetoric and laws on the books, Tudjman has 
thrown up practical roadblocks to the resettlement of ethnic Serb 
refugees, preferring instead to govern a Croatia that is now much more 
ethnically homogeneous. I should add, Mr. President, that ethnic Croats 
who were displaced by Serbs earlier in this decade should also be 
allowed to return to their homes. Our goal is a peaceful, multi-ethnic, 
democratic Croatia.
  In Herzegovina, President Tudjman continues to rule through thuggish 
ethnic Croatian proxies headquartered in Mostar. These lawless types 
have refused all international attempts to integrate Mostar and have 
resorted to deadly violence against Muslims.
  In addition, despite their Bosnian citizenship, the Croats of 
Herzegovina were allowed to vote in Croatia's national elections 
earlier this month, providing much of the support by which Tudjman was 
re-elected in a campaign distinguished by his nearly one-sided access 
to the media and violence against opposition candidates.
  Mr. President, I firmly believe that Croatia will some day re-enter 
the Western European community to which it alleges it belongs. But 
Croatia cannot even think of becoming a member of Western institutions 
like the European Union or NATO until it lives up to its moral and 
legal commitments.
  Postponing the World Bank loan to Croatia would serve as a useful 
warning to President Tudjman that he cannot escape the consequences of 
his authoritarian and duplicitous behavior.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.

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