[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5565-5566]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          CERTIFICATION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, today I extend my congratulations to 
President Vojislav Kostunica, Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and the 
Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on their courageous 
actions this past weekend in arresting former Yugoslav dictator 
Slobodan Milosevic. This important and encouraging development 
underscores Belgrade's commitment to making real and significant 
progress on certification requirements as outlined in the fiscal year 
2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act.
  For Belgrade, arresting Milosevic was an important factor in their 
ability to achieve certification by the U.S. Therefore, I am pleased 
with the decision of President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell 
to grant certification to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, FRY. I 
share their view that the Government of the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia has met the requirements for certification outlined by 
Congress last year, and I fully believe they will continue to make 
progress in these areas well beyond March 31.
  It is clear that the government in Belgrade has taken some difficult 
steps in recent weeks to further democratize. The presence of hundreds 
of pro-Milosevic demonstrators rallying outside of Milosevic's villa 
over the weekend showed that opponents to democratic reform in the 
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia still exist. Despite those who remain in 
opposition, it is critical that President Kostunica's government stand 
strong in its efforts to promote democracy. To help in that regard, I 
believe that the United States should continue to support those in the 
FRY who are committed to a new era of peace, stability and democracy in 
the Balkans.
  As one who has a lengthy personal history with southeastern Europe, I 
was pleased with the certification announcement by the State 
Department. To me, it was rivaled only by the excitement I felt at the 
final outcome of the presidential elections in the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia last fall which brought Vojislav Kostunica to the 
presidency. For years, I had worked to bring about democratic changes 
in the FRY working with opposition leaders to Slobodan Milosevic in 
diaspora. Since coming to the Senate, I have made a handful of visits 
to the region to get first-hand perspectives on the situation in the 
Balkans and I have visited and remain in contact with a number of top 
political leaders including President Kostunica, Serbian Prime Minister 
Zoran Djindjic and U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia, William Montgomery. I also have my ``ear to the ground'' 
via e-mail that I receive on a regular basis from a couple of retired 
members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol who are now serving as police 
officers in the United Nations' international police force in Kosovo. 
Needless to say, I pay attention to what is happening in the region.
  To help support the new government of Dr. Kostunica, and as an 
incentive for Belgrade to make needed democratic changes, last October 
Congress approved $100 million in assistance for Serbia in the fiscal 
year 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. To obtain these funds 
after March 31, and ensure access to international financial 
institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, the fiscal year 2001 
Foreign Operations bill outlined three certification requirements on 
the part of President Kostunica's new government: respect for the rule 
of law and human rights; implementation of the Dayton Accords; and 
cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former 
Yugoslavia.
  As I indicated to Secretary of State Colin Powell when I spoke with 
him last week, I believe the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has 
complied with the spirit of the law outlined by Congress last year. The 
recent record of the Kostunica/Djindjic government is very positive, 
and it is my view that they have made considerable progress in all 
three areas outlined in the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act.
  Regarding the rule of law, governments at both the Federal and the 
Republic levels in the FRY have taken steps to uphold human rights for 
minorities, particularly in southern Serbia. Deputy Prime Minister of 
Serbia Nebojsa Covic has worked to give ethnic Albanians in Serbia more 
control over their local governments and municipalities. During visits 
to Capitol Hill 2 weeks ago, Prime Minister Djindjic indicated that the 
Serbian Government now includes minorities. U.S. Ambassador Montgomery 
has indicated in conversations we have had that President Kostunica and 
Deputy Prime Minister Covic have worked well together to make progress 
on this front, and the Ambassador has been encouraged by the results 
that he has seen.

[[Page 5566]]

  Further human rights progress can be witnessed in the freeing of 
Kosovo Albanian prisoners. On February 26, the Serb parliament passed 
an amnesty law granting amnesty to more than 100 Kosovar Albanians held 
in Serb prisons. Since the end of the war in 1999, more than 1,500 of 
2,000 ethnic Albanian prisoners have been released. While I believe the 
remaining 500 should be quickly released, especially the Djakovica 
group, there has been substantial progress in this area.
  Regarding implementation of the Dayton Accords, the Federal Republic 
of Yugoslavia and the Republika Srpska have entered into a special 
relations agreement between the two which makes Belgrade's assistance 
to the RS military consistent with the Dayton Accords. In addition, 
President Kostunica has, on a number of occasions, publically declared 
his support for the Dayton Accords, the peace agreement reached at the 
end of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the FRY and Bosnia have 
established diplomatic relations. Prime Minister Djindjic also 
indicated to me during our meeting that the government will cut off 
pensions to RS army officers.
  Regarding cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, President Kostunica's 
government has reopened a War Crimes Tribunal office in Belgrade, and 
the government helped to facilitate the extradition to the Hague of 
indicted war criminals Blagoje Simic and Milomir Stakic. In addition, 
after Justice Minister of the FRY Momcilo Grubac and Serbian Justice 
Minister Vladan Batic met with the Chief Prosecutor of the Hague, Carla 
Del Ponte, she described their talks as a sign of ``good progress.'' 
When I met with Ms. Del Ponte following the Presidential elections last 
September, she indicated that the cooperation of the new government, 
not custody of Milosevic himself, was the Tribunal's first priority. 
President Kostunica's government has taken a number of additional steps 
in this area, drafting a memo of understanding on how the government 
will cooperate with the Hague and writing a new measure to change the 
current law in the FRY that prohibits citizens from being extradited. 
The arrest of Milosevic on Sunday, April 1, is an additional factor 
illustrating the government's commitment to following through with its 
promises to take action and cooperate with the Tribunal.
  I cannot overstate the importance of the Bush administration's 
decision to grant certification to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 
By doing so, they have allowed the FRY government access to much-needed 
support from the IMF, World Bank and international financial 
institutions. This will help the government deal with a staggering 
number of outstanding and pressing emergency situations. For instance: 
the country's economy is failing, there is ongoing violence in the 
Presevo Valley, there is a nationwide energy crisis complete with 
rolling blackouts, there are calls for an independent Montenegro led by 
Montenegro's President Djukanovic, and they still have 800,000 refugees 
from Croatia and Bosnia, and 200,000 refugees from Kosovo.
  President Kostunica and Prime Minister Djindjic are in a fragile 
political situation, which demands that they proceed with caution in 
their democratic reform efforts, especially with regard to Milosevic. 
Serb radical parties, including those with ties to Slobodan Milosevic, 
Vojislav Seselj and Zeljko ``Arkan'' Raznatovic, claimed nearly 30 
percent of the vote in the December 2000 parliamentary elections, and 
the coalition government is partly dependent on the inclusion of the 
Montenegrin Socialist Peoples Party, led by Predrag Bulatovic, who also 
back Milosevic. Outside the realm of government, there are some Serbs 
who would like to see the United States walk away from the Federal 
Republic of Yugoslavia due to anti-American sentiment following the 
1999 bombing campaign.
  As I came to the decision to recommend certification, I carefully 
considered the political realities with which the new FRY government is 
faced. These realities became especially clear last weekend as 
Milosevic supporters, including members of the Serb Parliament, rallied 
outside of Milosevic's villa to protest his arrest. In my view, and in 
the view of many who follow what goes on in the Balkans, President 
Kostunica and his government offer a remarkable opportunity for 
beneficial change in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. While they 
have only been in office a short time, Dr. Kostunica has been President 
for 6 months, while Prime Minister Djindjic and the Parliament in 
Serbia have been in office for just 2 months, I have positive feelings 
about the direction they are leading the nation.
  The qualified certification of the FRY guarantees that the United 
States still has leverage over the FRY if they fail to make good on 
their certification requirements. As the Bush Administration has 
indicated, U.S. support for an international donors' conference, 
scheduled to take place this summer, is contingent upon the FRY's 
continued cooperation with the Hague. Congress has additional funding 
leverage that may be exercised in the fiscal year 2002 appropriations 
process, as well as its oversight and approval authority of the State 
Department's spending plans in the FRY.
  In closing, I applaud the progress that has been made in the FRY 
during this historic period of democratic transition. I am pleased that 
President Bush has chosen to recognize the efforts that President 
Kostunica has undertaken to move towards democracy by continuing U.S. 
assistance to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. I believe U.S. 
support will serve as a stabilizing force as the new government 
continues to promote a new era of peace in southeast Europe.

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