[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 21 (Monday, May 27, 1996)]
[Pages 943-945]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Notice--Continuation of Emergency With Respect to the Federal Republic 
of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the Bosnian Serbs

May 24, 1996

    On May 30, 1992, by Executive Order 12808, President Bush declared a 
national emergency to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to 
the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States 
constituted by the actions and policies of the Governments of Serbia and 
Montenegro, blocking all property and interests in property of those 
Governments. President Bush took additional measures to prohibit trade 
and other transactions with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia 
and Montenegro) by Executive Orders 12810 and 12831, issued on June 5, 
1992, and January

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15, 1993, respectively. On April 25, 1993, I issued Executive Order 
12846, blocking the property and interests in property of all 
commercial, industrial, or public utility undertakings or entities 
organized or located in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
Montenegro), and prohibiting trade-related transactions by United States 
persons involving those areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
controlled by Bosnian Serb forces and the United Nations Protected Areas 
in the Republic of Croatia. On October 25, 1994, because of the actions 
and policies of the Bosnian Serbs, I expanded the scope of the national 
emergency to block the property of the Bosnian Serb forces and the 
authorities in the territory that they control within the Republic of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the property of any entity organized 
or located in, or controlled by any person in, or resident in, those 
areas.
    On December 27, 1995, I issued Presidential Determination No. 96-7, 
directing the Secretary of the Treasury, inter alia, to suspend the 
application of sanctions imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 
(Serbia and Montenegro) pursuant to the above-referenced Executive 
orders and to continue to block property previously blocked until 
provision is made to address claims or encumbrances, including 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 
initialled by the parties in Dayton, Ohio, on November 21, 1995, and 
signed in Paris on December 14, 1995 (hereinafter the ``Peace 
Agreement''). The sanctions imposed on the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) were accordingly suspended 
prospectively, effective January 16, 1996. Sanctions imposed on the 
Bosnian Serb forces and authorities and on the territory that they 
control within the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina were subsequently 
suspended prospectively, effective May 10, 1996, also in conformity with 
the Peace Agreement and Resolution.
    In the last year, substantial progress has been achieved to bring 
about a settlement on the conflict in the former Yugoslavia acceptable 
to the parties. Before agreeing to the sanctions suspension, the United 
States insisted on a credible reimposition mechanism to ensure the full 
implementation of the Peace Agreement. Thus, Resolution 1022 provides a 
mechanism to reimpose the sanctions if the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia or the Bosnian Serb authorities fail significantly to meet 
their obligations under the Peace Agreement. It also provides that 
sanctions will not be terminated until after the first free and fair 
elections occur in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as provided 
for in the Peace Agreement, and provided that the Bosnian Serb forces 
have continued to respect the zones of separation as provided in the 
Peace Agreement. The Resolution also provides for the continued blocking 
of assets potentially subject to conflicting claims and encumbrances, 
including the claims of the other successor states of the former 
Yugoslavia, until provision is made to address them.
    Because the resolution of the crisis and conflict in the former 
Yugoslavia that resulted from the actions and policies of the Government 
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and of 
the Bosnian Serb forces and the authorities in the territory that they 
control, will not be complete until such time as the Peace Agreement is 
implemented fully and the terms of Resolution 1022 have been met, the 
national emergency declared on May 30, 1992, as expanded in scope on 
October 25, 1994, and the measures adopted pursuant thereto to deal with 
that emergency must continue beyond May 30, 1996.
    Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National 
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing the national 
emergency with respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
Montenegro) and the Bosnian Serb forces and those areas of the Republic 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of the Bosnian Serb forces.

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    This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and 
transmitted to the Congress.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
May 24, 1996.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., May 28, 1996]

Note: This notice will be published in the Federal Register on May 29.