Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I) - Message to the Congress on Continuation of the National Emergencies With Respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)

[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[May 24, 2001]
[Pages 573-574]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress on Continuation of the National Emergencies With 
Respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)
May 24, 2001

To the Congress of the United States:
    Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), 
provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, 
prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President 
publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice 
stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the 
anniversary date. I have sent the enclosed notice to the Federal 
Register for publication, stating that the national emergencies declared 
with respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
Montenegro) (the ``FRY (S&M)'') in 1992 and with respect to Kosovo in 
1998, are to continue beyond May 30, 2001, and June 9, 2001, 
respectively. The most recent notice continuing these emergencies was 
published in the Federal Register on May 26, 2000.
    With respect to the 1992 national emergency, on December 27, 1995, 
President Clinton issued Presidential Determination 96-7, directing the 
Secretary of the Treasury, inter alia, to suspend the application of 
sanctions imposed on the FRY (S&M) and to continue to block property 
previously blocked until provision is made to address claims or 
encumbrances, including

[[Page 574]]

the claims of the other successor states of the former Yugoslavia. This 
sanctions relief, in conformity with United Nations Security Council 
Resolution 1022 of November 22, 1995 (hereinafter the ``Resolution''), 
was an essential factor motivating Serbia and Montenegro's acceptance of 
the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina 
initialed in Dayton on November 21, 1995, and signed in Paris on 
December 14, 1995 (hereinafter the ``Peace Agreement'').
    Sanctions against both the FRY (S&M) and the Bosnian Serbs were 
subsequently terminated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 
1074 of October 1, 1996. This termination, however, did not end the 
requirement of the Resolution that those blocked funds and assets that 
are subject to claims and encumbrances remain blocked, until unblocked 
in accordance with applicable law.
    Until the status of all remaining blocked property is resolved, the 
Peace Agreement implemented, and the terms of the Resolution met, this 
situation continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the 
national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. For 
these reasons, I have determined that the 1992 emergency, and the 
measures adopted pursuant thereto, must continue beyond May 30, 2001.
    With respect to the 1998 national emergency regarding Kosovo, on 
January 17, 2001, President Clinton issued Executive Order 13192 in view 
of the peaceful democratic transition begun in the FRY (S&M); the 
continuing need to promote full implementation of United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 827 of May 25, 1993, and subsequent 
resolutions calling for all states to cooperate fully with the 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); the 
illegitimate control over FRY (S&M) political institutions and economic 
resources or enterprises exercised by former President Slobodan 
Milosevic, his close associates and other persons, and those 
individuals' capacity to repress democracy or perpetrate or promote 
further human rights abuses; and the continuing threat to regional 
stability and implementation of the Peace Agreement. The order lifts and 
modifies, with respect to future transactions, most of the economic 
sanctions imposed against the FRY (S&M) in 1998 and 1999 with regard to 
the situation in Kosovo. At the same time, the order imposes 
restrictions on transactions with certain persons described in section 
1(a) of the order, namely Slobodan Milosevic, his close associates and 
supporters and persons under open indictment for war crimes by ICTY. The 
order also provides for the continued blocking of property or interests 
in property blocked prior to the order's effective date due to the need 
to address claims or encumbrances involving such property.
    Because the crisis with respect to the situation in Kosovo and with 
respect to Slobodan Milosevic, his close associates and supporters and 
persons under open indictment for war crimes by ICTY has not been 
resolved, and because the status of all previously blocked property has 
yet to be resolved, this situation continues to pose an unusual and 
extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the 
United States. For these reasons, I have determined that the emergency 
declared with respect to Kosovo, and the measures adopted pursuant 
thereto, must continue beyond June 9, 2001.

                                                          George W. Bush

 The White House,

 May 24, 2001.

Note: The notice of May 24 is listed in Appendix D at the end of this 
volume.