[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.