    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [June 12, 1999]
    [Page 929]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Videotaped Address to the Kosovar Refugees
    June 12, 1999

        To all the people of Kosovo, who have suffered so much in the face
    of Mr. Milosevic's savage campaign of
    ethnic cleansing, I'm happy to say that the time of return is near. The
    Serb forces who drove you from your homes are leaving Kosovo. All are
    required to leave. The NATO-led troops who will protect you are
    beginning to go in. Mr. Milosevic has failed utterly in his efforts to
    erase your history, your culture, your presence from your land. Soon,
    you will be going home.
        Now we must make sure you can return safely. I know you're anxious
    to reunite with your loved ones, to find out what condition your homes
    are in, to reclaim your land. But before you do, we must be certain all
    the Serbian forces have left and see to it that international forces are
    in place throughout Kosovo. We must start clearing the landmines, some
    of which may be in your homes, in your community buildings, along roads
    and bridges. We need to make sure there's enough food, water, and
    shelter to meet your needs. And we most urgently need to reach the
    desperate people who have been trapped in the hills and forests of
    Kosovo.
        Until all of you can return in safety, we will provide aid in
    Albania and Macedonia. And we will not forget the kindness of the
    nations that have given you shelter, or their own needs for assistance
    and stability.
        As you prepare to go home, I know you have many reasons to be bitter
    and full of anger. But I ask you not to let Mr. Milosevic have the victory of seeing your spirits broken and
    your hearts turn to stone. No one should do to the ethnic Serbs who live
    in Kosovo what their leaders did to you. Do not prove Mr. Milosevic
    right, that people of different ethnic and religious groups are
    inevitably enemies.
        No human being should ever have to experience what you have been
    forced to endure. We will seek effective justice through law for the
    perpetrators of these crimes. But we must have an end to ethnic
    cleansing and the beginning of a Kosovo where every child can go to
    school, every family can practice its faith, every community can live a
    normal life in peace. That is what we fought for. That is what NATO
    peacekeepers will help build when they go in. That is the future we now
    have a chance to shape together.
        I thank you for your courage and your endurance, and I look forward
    to seeing you go home.

    Note: The address was videotaped at approximately 6:35 p.m. on June 11
    in the Roosevelt Room at the White House for later broadcast on the U.S.
    Information Agency WORLDNET in the Balkan region. The transcript was
    embargoed for release until 2 a.m., e.d.t., on June 12. In his remarks,
    the President referred to President Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal
    Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). A tape was not available
    for verification of the content of this address.