    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [March 22, 1999]
    [Pages 426-427]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Situation in Kosovo
    March 22, 1999

        I want to give you a brief update about the situation in Kosovo and
    make a few comments.
        It is clear that Serb forces are now engaged in further attacks on
    Kosovar civilians. Already more than 40,000 Serb security forces are
    poised

    [[Page 427]]

    in and around Kosovo, with additional units on the way. These actions
    are in clear violation of commitments Serbia made last October when we
    obtained the cease-fire agreement.
        As part of our determined efforts to seek a peaceful solution, I
    asked Ambassador Holbrooke to see
    President Milosevic and make clear the
    choice he faces. That meeting is either going on now or should start in
    the next few minutes. If President Milosevic continues to choose
    aggression over peace, NATO's military plans must continue to move
    forward.
        I will be in close consultation with our NATO Allies and with
    Congress. Over the weekend, I met with my national security team to
    discuss the military options. I also spoke with other NATO leaders by
    telephone. There is strong unity among the NATO Allies. We all agree
    that we cannot allow President Milosevic
    to continue the aggression with impunity. I have also sent a letter to
    President Yeltsin about the urgency of the
    situation.
        Our objective in Kosovo remains clear: to stop the killing and
    achieve a durable peace that restores Kosovars to self-government, the
    self-government that President Milosevic
    stripped away from them a decade ago. We and our NATO Allies, and
    Russia, all agree that this is the right goal. The Kosovar Albanians
    have accepted this course. Only President Milosevic and Serbia stand in
    the way of peace. Serbia's mounting aggression must be stopped.
        Since the adjournment of the peace talks in Paris less than a week
    ago, an estimated 30,000 more Kosovars have fled their homes. The number
    now exceeds more than a quarter of a million people, one out of every
    eight people in Kosovo. Many of them now are in neighboring Albania,
    Macedonia, and Montenegro, all of which could be quickly drawn into this
    conflict. So could other nations in the region, including Bosnia where
    allied determination ended a terrible war, and our allies Greece and
    Turkey.
        Seeking to end this tragedy in Kosovo and finding a peaceful
    solution is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do,
    very much in our national interests, if we are to leave a stable,
    peaceful, and democratic Europe to our children. We have learned a lot
    of lessons in the last 50 years. One of them surely is that we have a
    stake in European freedom and security and stability. I hope that can be
    achieved by peaceful means. If not, we have to be prepared to act.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:50 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House, upon his return from Camp David, MD. In his remarks, he referred
    to U.S. Special Envoy Richard C. Holbrooke; President Slobodan Milosevic
    of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); and
    President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.