[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.