[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[March 18, 1994]
[Pages 484-486]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Bosnian Federation Agreement Signing Ceremony
March 18, 1994

    The President. President Izetbegovic, President Tudjman, Prime 
Minister Silajdzic, Mr. Zubak: The Secretary of State, Mr. Lake, the 
Vice President, and I are happy to be joined by you, as well as by 
others here today. We have the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Vitaly 
Churkin; representing the European Union troika, the Foreign Ministers 
of Greece, Mr. Papoulias, of Belgium, Mr. Claes, of Germany, Mr. Kinkel; 
and of course, David Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg, who have been the 
cochairs of the international conference.
    In addition to that, we're very pleased to be joined by the 
Ambassadors to the UNPROFOR nations who have been so active in working 
for peace and in preserving the peace, General Shalikashvili, Ambassador 
Albright, and Members of the Congress. In the front row, Senator Lugar, 
Senator Stevens, Senator Levin, Senator Hatch, Congressman Lantos, and I 
believe Congressman McCloskey is here. There he is, in the second row. 
So we thank all of you for coming today.
    We have come to bear witness to a moment of hope. For 33 months the 
flames of war have raged through the nations of the former Yugoslavia. 
By signing these agreements today, Bosnian and Croatian leaders have 
acted to turn back those flames and to begin the difficult process of 
reconciliation.
    Around the globe, the tension between ethnic identity and statehood 
presents one of the great problems of our time. But nowhere have the 
consequences been more tragic than in the former Yugoslavia. There 
nationalists and religious factions aggravated by Serbian aggression 
have erupted in a fury of ethnic cleansing and brutal atrocity.
    The agreements signed today offer one of the first clear signals 
that parties to this conflict are willing to end the violence and begin 
a process of reconstruction. The accords call for a federation between 
Muslims and Croats of Bosnia. This Muslim-Croat entity has agreed on the 
principles of a confederation with Croatia. Together these steps can 
help support the ideal of a multiethnic Bosnia and provide a basis for 
Muslims and Croats to live again in peace as neighbors and compatriots. 
The agreements are as important for Croatia's future as they are for 
Bosnia's. And it is the hope of all present today that the Serbs will 
join in this process toward peace as well.
    These agreements are a testament to the perseverance and to the 
resolve of many people: the Croatian and Bosnian diplomats who kept

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probing for openings toward peace; the U.N. soldiers from many nations, 
here represented today, who have worked to bring both stability and 
humanitarian supplies; the NATO pilots who have helped put our power in 
the service of diplomacy.
    I want to praise the leadership and courage of those who have come 
to Washington to sign these agreements, especially President Izetbegovic 
and President Tudjman. I also want to recognize the tireless efforts of 
Thorvald Stoltenberg and David Owen and of course our own Cy Vance, who 
is not here today, and especially to express my personal appreciation to 
the skilled diplomacy of Ambassador Charles Redman. Thank you, sir, for 
your work.
    All of these people have done much to bring us to this point of 
agreement. Through Ambassador Redman's efforts and in many other ways, 
our administration has worked with our NATO allies, the European Union, 
Russia, the U.N., and others to help end this conflict. The fact that we 
have done this work together has made a significant difference. And to 
the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, I say a special thank you, sir, 
for your renewed energy in this area and our common hopes.
    We have engaged in this work because the United States has clear 
interests at stake: an interest in helping prevent the spread of a wider 
war in Europe, an interest in showing that NATO remains a credible force 
for peace, an interest in helping to stem the terrible, destabilizing 
flows of refugees this struggle is generating, and perhaps clearly a 
humanitarian interest we all share in stopping the continuing slaughter 
of innocents in Bosnia.
    The documents signed here are only first steps, but they are clearly 
steps in the right direction. If they lead to an overall negotiated 
settlement, if a lasting peace takes hold in this war-torn land, the 
ceremony will be remembered as an important event. Whether that comes to 
pass will depend less on our words today than on the actions of Muslims, 
Croats, and Serbs on the ground tomorrow and in the days to come.
    For while documents like these can define the parameters of peace, 
the people of the region themselves must create that peace. Economic, 
political, and security arrangements for the new federation must be 
given a chance to work. The cease-fire between Croats and Bosnian 
Government forces must hold. Croats and Muslims who have fought with 
such intensity must now apply that same intensity to restoring habits of 
tolerance and coexistence.
    The issue of the Petrinja region of Croatia must be resolved. Serbia 
and the Serbs of Bosnia cannot sidestep their own responsibility to 
achieve an enduring peace.
    The new progress toward peace will likely come under attack by 
demagogs, by rogue riflemen, by all those who believe they can profit 
most from continued violence, aggression, and human suffering. Such 
attacks must be met with the same steadiness and leadership that have 
produced these agreements today.
    Neither the United States nor the international community can 
guarantee the success of this initiative. But the U.S. has stood by the 
parties as they have taken risks for peace, and we will continue to do 
so. I have told Presidents Izetbegovic and Tudjman that the U.S. is 
prepared to contribute to the economic reconstruction that will bolster 
these agreements. And as I have said before, if an acceptable, 
enforceable settlement can be reached, the U.S. is prepared through NATO 
to help implement it.
    All across Bosnia and Croatia, communities and entire peoples were 
once connected by ancient bridges, like the great stone arch in Mostar 
which for centuries stood as the city's proud symbol. Today, too many of 
those bridges have been reduced to rubble or closed by force. The 
challenge for parties to this conflict is to rebuild the bonds that 
those bridges represent. The announcement that Sarajevo's bridge of 
brotherhood and unity soon will reopen is a hopeful sign that the 
parties can begin to span the divide of hatred and violence.
    The work ahead is indeed daunting, but all of us in the 
international community are committed to help. Together, let us strive 
for peace.
    Thank you.

[At this point, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias of Greece, Presidents 
Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Franjo Tudjman of Croatia, 
and Bosnian Croat representative Kresimir Zubak each made statements.]

    The President. Ladies and gentlemen, today we have witnessed an act 
of great statesmanship. Now we must hope that the courage embodied by 
these agreements will inspire further acts of reason, reconstruction and 
progress to implement them, to make them real in the lives of

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the people whose leaders are represented here today.
    We also must hope, I will say again, that the Serbs will join in 
this effort for a wider peace. We invite them and urge them to do so.
    Over 150 years ago, the Balkan poet Ivan Jukic wrote the following 
line: ``Only those are heroes who know how to live with their 
brothers.'' Let us hope we are beginning to learn that lesson in this 
troubled land.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 9 a.m. in Room 450 of the Old Executive 
Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Haris 
Silajdzic of Bosnia-Herzegovina; Foreign Minister Willy Claes of 
Belgium; Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel of Germany; Lord David Owen and 
Thorvald Stoltenberg, Cochairmen, and Cyrus Vance, former Cochairman, 
International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia; and Ambassador 
Charles Redman, U.S. Special Envoy for the Former Yugoslavia.