[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 16, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S10444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CELEBRATING 7 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE FOR THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

 Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support 
to the Government of the Republic of Macedonia which on September 8th 
celebrated seven years of independence.
  Many of us are encouraged with the activities the Government has 
enacted with respect to democracy, human rights and international 
peace.
  Although a small nation of approximately two million people and the 
size of Vermont, the Republic of Macedonia, located in the very 
unstable region of the Balkans, has established itself as an example of 
peaceful, constructive, good neighborly country and our reliable ally.
  The Republic of Macedonia is the only country that, following the 
dissolution of former Yugoslavia in 1991, gained independence in a 
peaceful and legitimate manner, by a way of a referendum and a new 
Constitution, refusing to take part in the war that was waged in the 
other parts of former Yugoslavia, thus showing that at the threshold of 
the 21st century, it is possible to become independent without 
bloodshed.
  Not only did the Republic of Macedonia opt against policies of 
territorial aspirations, forceful changing of borders and ethnic 
cleansing, but also made it very clear that such policies are the cause 
for conflicts and wars in the ethnically intermixed Balkans.
  Over the seven years of its independence, the Government of the 
Republic of Macedonia has instituted a series of economic reforms to 
control inflation, reduce debt, increase exports and foster growth.
  Recently, many American investors have started to see South-Eastern 
Europe as an economic area of large potential with more than 60 million 
people, and the Republic of Macedonia as the most strategically located 
in the center of this large market.
  The United States must continue its support for the Republic of 
Macedonia, especially having in mind the recent developments in 
neighboring Yugoslavia.

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