    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 12 (Monday, March 28, 1994)]
    [Pages 584-585]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement by the Director of Communications on the President's Meeting
    With President Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia

    March 19, 1994

        Following the signing ceremony yesterday, the President met with
    President Izetbegovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The two leaders discussed
    next steps following yesterday's agreements. The President told
    President Izetbegovic that the United States will work with the European
    Union and other states to provide economic assistance for the
    rehabilitation and reconstruction of Bosnia. The President also told the
    Bosnian President that the United States is prepared to sign a bilateral
    assistance agreement establishing a framework for future technical and
    economic assistance.
        The President confirmed that the United States would reopen our
    Embassy in Sarajevo in the near future. Ambassador Victor Jackovich has
    been resident in Vienna since last fall because of the security
    situation in Sarajevo. Our decision to reopen the Embassy underscores
    our commitment to Bosnia's security and stability. The President
    reaffirmed the intention of the United States to participate in the
    implementation of a viable peace agreement among the parties in Bosnia.
        The President also met with President Tudjman of Croatia. The two
    leaders discussed Croatia's role in helping make the agreements signed
    today succeed. The United States will work with Croatia and the Bosniac-
    Croat Federation toward their full integration in Western political,
    economic, and security arrangements. The President announced that the
    United States is ready to sign a bilateral aid agreement to establish a
    framework for future technical and economic assistance for Croatia. The
    United States also is prepared to sign a science and technology
    agreement and to open negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty and
    a double taxation treaty.
        To help alleviate the humanitarian situation and to assist Croatia
    to care for refugees and persons displaced as a result of the conflict,
    the United States will provide $2 million for the ``Hospital
    Partnership'' and $1.5 million for medical supplies.
        The President announced that Croatia would be allowed to open
    consulates in New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles. To
    further advance the contacts between our nations, the United States will
    double the Fulbright program and donate $50,000 worth of American
    studies books to the recently rebuilt American Studies Library in
    Dubrovnik.
        The President reaffirmed United States support for the territorial
    integrity and sovereignty of Croatia and committed to help secure the
    peaceful solution to the problems of the UN Protected Areas (UNPA's). To
    this end, the United States will continue to use sanctions and other
    economic pressure against Serbia in the most effective way possible. We
    also intend to play an active diplomatic role in assisting Croatia in
    resolving its dispute with the Krajina Serbs.

    [[Page 585]]

        The United States firmly believes that adherence to the highest
    standards of human and civil rights for Croatia's Serb community is an
    essential condition for the reintegration of the UNPA's. President
    Tudjman's stated commitments in this regard are constructive; his
    proposals for autonomy for Serb-majority areas provide a good basis for
    beginning negotiations.