[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 30 (Thursday, March 8, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2102-S2103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IMPORTANT PROGRESS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the important 
progress that has been made in the difficult post-war political and 
economic transformation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  Some critics of American policy seem inclined to seize on every shred 
of negative news as alleged arguments for pulling up stakes and 
disengaging from the Balkans.
  I have never belonged to this ``cut and run school,'' and, in fact, 
the good news I have to report illustrates two fundamental truths: 
first, that persistence pays; and second, that more than ever, we need 
to continue to be engaged on the ground in Bosnia.
  Since the November 2000 elections--which, I might add, the 
international news media quickly, and incorrectly, dubbed a major 
setback for the Dayton Accords - several positive political and 
economic developments have occurred in Bosnia, at both the national and 
the entity level, that merit our close attention.
  In fact, the situation has progressed to the point where Bosnia and 
Herzegovina now stands at a critical juncture. For the first time there 
appears to be a fundamental shift away from the ultra-nationalist 
parties that have until now dominated Bosnia's post-war political 
process.

  As the Presiding Officer knows, immediately after the war ended, each 
of the main ethnic groups - the Bosniaks, or Muslims, the Croats, and 
the Serbs--rallied around ultra-nationalist leaders who had neither the 
capability nor the intention of bringing about a united Bosnia.
  But now there has been a fundamental shift away from these ultra-
nationalist parties and toward a government that is more moderate and 
inclusive and less nationalistic.
  But the tide, Mr. President, has not yet definitively turned. Let me 
try to explain this fairly complex picture.
  At the level of both the Muslim-Croat Federation and of the national 
government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the main agent of this remarkable 
shift has been a coalition of non-nationalist parties aptly known as 
the ``Alliance for Change.''
  In the wake of the November elections, these parties found the 
political courage to put aside their disparate interests and agendas 
and push together to oust the hardline nationalists.
  In early February, the Alliance scored its first major victory at the 
national level when it closed ranks to defeat the election of 
nationalist candidate Martin Raguz for Prime Minister.
  In the process, in a truly remarkable breakthrough, the ultra-
nationalist Serb presidency member joined the Muslim presidency member 
from the nationalist Bosniak SDA party in backing a non-nationalist 
candidate for Prime Minister, Bozidar Matic, who was put forward by the 
Alliance.
  I am told that Ante Jelavic, the third presidency member who leads 
the hard-line Bosnian Croat HDZ party, stormed out of the presidency 
session in a fury. Having met Mr. Jelavic in Bosnia several years ago, 
I am not surprised at his behavior.
  Two weeks ago on February 22--three months after the elections--Matic 
and his team of ministers were confirmed as the first ever non-
nationalist government in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  Then, on February 28, came word of a second stunning success, this 
time at the Federation level. In another political first for Bosnia, 
two non-nationalist candidates nominated by the Alliance for Change, 
Karlo Filipovic and Safet Halilovic, were elected as President and 
Vice-President of the Federation.
  Mr. President, these are momentous changes. These two gentlemen are 
genuine democrats who have bought into Dayton. I am confident that they 
and their allies will now push for full implementation, including 
adopting a new elections law, an effectively functioning Federation 
legislature, and honest economic reform.
  In a promising harbinger of the new political order, Prime Minister 
Matic gave the nationalist parties a clear indication of his priorities 
when he told them: ``I don't speak Serbian, Croatian, or Bosnian. I 
speak the language of competitive economic skills, because that's the 
only language that will help us survive.''
  That would be an ordinary statement for anybody to make in any other 
democracy but it is a breathtaking statement in Bosnia.
  That, Mr. President, is the language of Bosnia's future.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Jelavic and his ultra-nationalist cronies in the 
HDZ appear unwilling to accept their defeat and leave power gracefully. 
Last Saturday, at a self-appointed congress held in Mostar, the Bosnian 
Croat National Assembly announced its intention to form a separate 
Croat political entity in all but name and to establish temporary self-
administration. This move, which would be a clear violation of the 
Dayton Peace Accords, has been roundly condemned by the international 
community.
  In point of fact, the HDZ's actions reveal just how desperate Jelavic 
and his ilk have become. With the Alliance for Change poised to 
solidify its new political gains, Jelavic was forced to play the 
nationalist card once again by claiming that he alone is defending the 
interests of Bosnia's Croat community.
  This assertion, however, is patently false, for Jelavic does not 
speak for all Bosnian Croats. People like Kresimir Zubak, the newly 
appointed national Minister of Refugee and Human Rights, and Jadranko 
Prlic, the former foreign minister and currently Deputy Minister for 
Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, are both Croat moderates who are 
committed to Dayton's full implementation.
  Zubak called the Croat People's Assembly ``an illegitimate 
institution'' that ``cannot take lawful decisions.''
  Yesterday, in response to this illegal behavior, High Representative 
Wolfgang Petritsch, an experienced Austrian diplomat, removed Jelavic 
from his post as Croat Member of Bosnia's collective presidency. Put 
another way, he said, you are no longer president.
  I met with Mr. Petritsch several weeks ago in Sarajevo, and I welcome 
his resolute action.
  I emphasize, Mr. President, that this move by the High Representative 
was backed by the reformist Mesic/Racan Government of Croatia--which in 
itself speaks volumes about recent political progress in the 
Balkans. This is the new leadership in Croatia that came to power in 
the wake of Franjo Tjudman, a man who was almost, in my view, as bad as 
Slobodan Milosevic. The new Croatian Government said it does not 
acknowledge or support Mr. Jelavic's attempt to set up a separate 
entity.

  Positive change is afoot even in the Republika Srpska, where the 
ultra-nationalist SDS, a party with the dubious honor of having been 
founded by one of the worst war criminals, in my view --but whether you 
believe me or not, someone who has been indicted for alleged war 
crimes--Radovan Karadzic, won a clear plurality of votes in the 
November elections.
  In what had to have been a delicate political dance, the non-
nationalist Bosnian Serb Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, has succeeded 
in building a government in which the influence of the SDS has been 
formally neutralized, although some SDS-leaning individuals have been 
included in the Cabinet. I met with him for hours when I was recently 
in Sarajevo.
  It took great courage for him to do what he did. After all, the party 
of Karadzic had won. And what was said at the time by the Muslims, as 
well as the Croats in attendance, was if, in fact, you do not exclude 
all those who are active members of the SDS, we will not cooperate, but 
if you do, we will form a government with you.
  Incidentally, Mr. President, much of the credit for these success 
stories should go to our talented and hard-working Ambassador in 
Sarajevo, Tom Miller.
  In addition, two other dedicated Americans--Ambassador Jacques Klein, 
the head of the U.N. Mission in Bosnia, and General Michael Dodson, the 
Commander of SFOR, have greatly improved the cooperation between their 
respective organizations, which had been sorely wanting for some time 
after Dayton.
  An illustration of this fruitful cooperation is the fact that 
refugees are returning in record numbers to their

[[Page S2103]]

pre-war homes. The 2000 total was 65 percent higher than the 1999 
total. And the 1999 total was 100 percent higher than 1998. This 
development is due in large part to the atmosphere of security made 
possible by the presence of SFOR and the International Police Task 
Force, run by the United Nations Mission.
  Returns are up even in areas where some of the worst ethnic cleansing 
took place, and even in Srebrenica--the site of Europe's worst massacre 
since World War II, people are returning.
  The other link in the international chain is the United Nations' 
Office of the High Representative, whose head, Mr. Petritsch, acted so 
swiftly against the ultra-nationalist Bosnian Croat leader. Had he not, 
I believe the Dayton accords would be in shambles, and we would be back 
on the verge of chaos.

  This action followed a move in February in which he removed one of 
the most corrupt Bosnian officials, former Prime Minister Adhem 
Bicakcic, from his post at the head of the country's largest electric 
utility, which he was using as his own private little till for his 
party, and banned him from holding future public office. It is 
estimated that Bicakcic diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars in 
public funds to the Party of Democratic Action, the country's largest 
Muslim political party, and to private bank accounts.
  He is a fitting poster-boy for the kind of behavior that can no 
longer be tolerated in Bosnia if Bosnia is ever going to turn its 
economy around.
  There is more to cheer about on the economic front. Large-scale 
privatization is finally underway, and the communist-era payment 
bureaus, long a source of petty corruption, were shut down in early 
January, a move which should pave the way for a viable banking system 
to take hold.
  Let me again stress that I do not believe by any stretch of the 
imagination we have definitively turned the corner in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina. But thanks to the strikingly positive developments that 
have occurred in the last few months, Bosnia finds itself at an 
important crossroads, which makes our continued, active engagement 
there all the more urgent.
  As I have said many times, we have come too far and accomplished too 
much to simply abandon the people of this region to the purveyors of 
ultra-nationalism and ethnic division who are waiting and hoping that 
our resolve will dissipate over time.
  We need to support those forces--embodied in the Alliance for 
Change--that are struggling to end the post-war status quo of 
nationalist party dominance and to implement Dayton's political 
structures in a meaningful and durable way.
  They represent the best hope for Bosnia's full integration into 
Europe's political and economic structures.
  When that day comes, with mission accomplished we and our allies can 
close up shop and head home secure in the knowledge that we have helped 
extend the zone of European stability to include another Balkan 
country.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. In my capacity as a Senator from the State of 
Alabama, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be 
rescinded.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

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