    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [December 14, 1995]
    [Pages 1889-1890]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1889]]

    Remarks at the Signing Ceremony for the Balkan Peace Agreement in Paris
    December 14, 1995

        President Chirac, President Izetbegovic, President Tudjman,
    President Milosevic, Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, Secretary General
    Solana, High Representative Bildt, Prime Minister Filali, Prime Minister
    Chernomyrdin, Prime Minister Major, Prime Minister Gonzalez, Chancellor
    Kohl: Let me begin, on behalf of the people of the United States, by
    thanking all of those whose labor and wisdom helped to keep hope alive
    during the long, dark years of war, the humanitarian relief workers, the
    United Nations forces from Europe and beyond. Had it not been for their
    dedication and their sacrifice, the toll of the war in Bosnia would have
    been even greater.
        And I thank those whose work helped make this moment of peace
    possible, beginning with our host, Prime Minister Chirac, for his vigor
    and determination; Prime Minister Major, who was a full partner in the
    development of the rapid reaction force and our NATO cooperation; and
    our friend Chancellor Kohl, who has taken so many of the refugees and
    who now is sending German troops beyond his border in this historic
    common endeavor. I thank the leaders of the strong NATO and the
    determined negotiating team of Russians, Europeans, and Americans.
        All of you have brought us to this bright new day, when Bosnia turns
    from the horror of war to the promise of peace. President Izetbegovic,
    President Tudjman, President Milosevic, by making peace you have
    answered the call of your people. You have heard them say, ``Stop the
    war. End the suffering. Give our children the blessings of a normal
    life.''
        In this chorus for peace today we also hear the hallowed voices of
    the victims, the children whose playgrounds were shelled into killing
    fields, the young girls brutalized by rape, the men shot down in mass
    graves, those who starved in the camps, those who died in battle, the
    millions taken from their homes and torn from their families. Even from
    beyond the grave there are victims singing the song of peace today. May
    their voices be in our minds and our hearts forever.
        In Dayton, these three Balkan leaders made the fateful choice for
    peace. Today, Mr. Presidents, you have bound yourselves to peace. But
    tomorrow you must turn the pages of this agreement into a real-life
    future of hope for those who have survived this horrible war. At your
    request, the United States and more than 25 other nations will send you
    our most precious resource, the men and women of our Armed Forces. Their
    mission, to allow the Bosnian people to emerge from a nightmare of fear
    into a new day of security, according to terms you have approved, in a
    manner that is evenhanded and fair to all.
        The international community will work with you to change the face of
    Bosnia: to meet human needs; to repair and to rebuild; to reunite
    children with their families and refugees with their homes; to oversee
    democratic elections, advance human rights, and call to account those
    accused of war crimes.
        We can do all these things, but we cannot guarantee the future of
    Bosnia. No one outside can guarantee that Muslims, Croats, and Serbs in
    Bosnia will come together and stay together as free citizens in a united
    country sharing a common destiny. Only the Bosnian people can do that.
        I know the losses have been staggering, the scars are deep. We feel
    even today that the wounds have not healed. But Bosnia must find a way,
    with God's grace, to lay down the hatreds, to give up the revenge, to go
    forward together. That is the road--indeed, that is the only road--to
    the future.
        We see from Northern Ireland to the Middle East, from South Africa
    to Haiti, people turning from hatred to hope. Here in Europe, countries
    that for centuries fought now work together for peace. Soon the Bosnian
    people will see for themselves the awesome potential of people to turn
    from conflict to cooperation. In just a few days troops from all over
    Europe and North America and elsewhere--troops from Great Britain,
    France, and Germany, troops from Greece and Turkey, troops from Poland
    and Lithuania, and troops from the United States and Russia, former
    enemies, now friends--will answer the same call and share the same
    responsibilities to achieve the same goal, a lasting

    [[Page 1890]]

    peace in Bosnia where enemies can become friends.
        Why would they do this? Because their hearts are broken by the
    suffering and the slaughter; because their minds recoil at the prospect
    of needless spreading war in the heart of Europe. But they--we--do so in
    the face of skeptics who say the people of the Balkans cannot escape
    their bloody past, that Balkan hearts are too hard for peace.
        But let us remember this war did violence not only to Bosnia's
    people but also to Bosnia's history. For Bosnia once found unity in its
    diversity. Generations of Muslims, Orthodox, Catholics, and Jews lived
    side by side and enriched the world by their example. They built schools
    and libraries and wondrous places of worship. Part of the population
    laid down their tools on Friday, part on Saturday, and part on Sunday.
    But their lives were woven together by marriage and culture, work, a
    common language, and a shared pride in a place that then they all called
    home. Now, if that past is any guide, this peace can take hold. And if
    the people of Bosnia want a decent future for their children, this peace
    must take hold.
        Here in this City of Light, at this moment of hope, let us recall
    how this century--marked by so much progress and too much bloodshed,
    witness to humanity's best and humanity's worst--how this century began
    in Bosnia. At the dawn of the century, when gunfire in Sarajevo sparked
    the first of our two World Wars, the British Foreign Secretary, Sir
    Edward Gray, said these words: ``The lamps are going out all over
    Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetimes.''
        But they were lit again, by an extraordinary generation of Europeans
    and Americans. The torch of freedom they carried now shines more
    brightly than ever before on every continent. That torch can shine on
    Bosnia again, but first it must warm the hearts of the Bosnian people.
        So I say to all the people of the Balkans on behalf of all of us who
    would come to see this peace take hold: You have seen what war has
    wrought. You know what peace can bring. Seize this chance and make it
    work. You can do nothing to erase the past, but you can do everything to
    build the future. Do not let your children down.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:50 p.m. in the Salon des Fetes at the
    Elysee Palace. In his remarks, he referred to President Jacques Chirac
    of France, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, NATO Secretary
    General Javier Solana, High Representative of the Balkan peace
    conference Carl Bildt, Prime Minister Abdellatif Filali of Morocco,
    Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin of Russia, Prime Minister John Major
    of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez of Spain, and
    Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany.