[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[April 24, 1999]
[Pages 611-612]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Opening Session of the North Atlantic Council Summit
April 24, 1999

    Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General.
    Yesterday we recalled NATO's history, embraced our new members, 
deepened our unity and our determination to stand against ethnic 
cleansing in Kosovo and to build a broader transatlantic community that 
respects human

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rights of all ethnic and religious groups and offers all Europeans the 
chance to build better lives together.
    I want to begin by thanking the Secretary General for his leadership. I thank all of you for your 
leadership and your unity, the foreign and defense ministers, General 
Naumann and General Clark, and all the people in our governments who worked so hard 
to support our efforts. I know I speak for all of us when I say we are 
very proud of our men and women in uniform in the Balkans. And we 
remember today, especially, the 
three who 
are being held prisoner by Mr. Milosevic 
and who still have not received the Red Cross visits required by the 
Geneva Convention, even though he is on television in the United States 
saying they will receive them.
    The crisis in Kosovo has underscored the importance of NATO and the 
imperative of modernizing our Alliance for 21st century challenges. 
Today we will embrace a comprehensive plan to do just that, so that NATO 
can advance security and freedom for another 50 years by enhancing our 
capacity to address conflicts beyond our borders, by protecting our 
citizens from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, by deepening 
our partnerships with other nations and helping new members enter 
through NATO's open doors. In preparing NATO for the 21st century, we 
will make our Alliance even stronger.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 9:23 a.m. in the Mellon 
Auditorium. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary General Javier 
Solana of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Gen. Klaus Naumann, 
chairman, NATO Military Committee; Gen. Wesley K. Clark, Supreme Allied 
Commander, Europe; President Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic 
of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); and Staff Sgt. Andrew A. Ramirez, 
USA, Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Stone, USA, and Specialist Steven M. 
Gonzales, USA, infantrymen in custody in Serbia. The transcript released 
by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of 
Secretary General Solana.