[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 16, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S9407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE BOSNIAN ELECTIONS

  Mr. BIDEN. Last weekend the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina went to 
the polls to elect municipal governments. These local elections had 
been postponed from last year because of tampering with registrations, 
chiefly by the Bosnian Serbs.
  I am happy to report, Mr. President, that this year's municipal 
elections were a success. Despite dire threats of violence against 
refugees and displaced persons who wanted to cross over to their former 
homes to vote, over 2 days not one single incident of serious violence 
occurred in the entire country.
  Why? Because SFOR, led by recently reinforced American troops, made 
clear to all parties that violence would not be tolerated.
  Every single time over the past several years when the West has been 
forceful in its behavior, the ultra-nationalists in Bosnia have backed 
down.
  The elections were carried out by the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], in which the United States is an active 
member. The OSCE deserves a great deal of credit for its successful 
labors.
  The results of the elections will not be known for several days. 
Already, however, some encouraging signs are emerging. In Tuzla, the 
Muslim Party for Democratic Action [SDA] conceded defeat by Mayor Selim 
Beslagic's multi-ethnic joint list. I met Mayor Beslagic last month. He 
represents just the kind of democratic, tolerant, pragmatic politician 
that can rebuild Bosnia.
  Until now the three ethnically based parties that profess to 
represent the interests of the Muslims, Serbs, and Croats have 
dominated the airwaves and the patronage system. Tuzla--and perhaps 
other cities in both the federation and the Republika Srprska--show 
that if SFOR and the international community guarantee equal access, 
their monopoly on power can be broken.
  Moreover, it is likely that thanks to absentee voting and to the 
protection offered by SFOR to returning refugees, the election may 
reverse the vile ethnic cleansing of the war. For example, the town of 
Drvar in western Herzegovina was 97 percent Serb until the town's 
inhabitants were driven out in the fall of 1995. Last weekend the 
Croats who displaced the Serbs did their best to harass returning Serb 
voters. International election officials from the OSCE, however, 
insisted that the Serbs be allowed to vote.
  Several other towns like Jajce and Srebrenica, site of the largest 
civilian massacre in Europe since World War II, may see their former 
inhabitants, in these two cases Muslims, forming the governments.
  The international community is now faced with the stark question of 
whether it will enforce the results of the elections by guaranteeing 
that the newly elected councils not remain governments in exile.
  Enforcing the election results, of course, means that the right of 
refugees and displaced persons to return must be honored. In most cases 
that would be able to be accomplished only by the international 
community under the protection of SFOR.
  Mr. President, I believe we have no choice in this matter. Both for 
moral and practical reasons we must move rapidly to enforce 
resettlement of refugees. This will be a difficult task, and time is 
short before the onset of the Balkan winter. Most likely we will have 
to begin with highly visible demonstration returns in one to two 
selected towns. But we must keep the democratic momentum going.
  Rebuilding shattered Bosnia is an immense undertaking. Now for the 
first time in years, there has been a string of successes. The United 
States has been the prime mover in these, and we must continue our 
valuable and honorable work.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.

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