[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 24 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Pages 1092-1094]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Reporting on the Situation in Kosovo

June 10, 1998

To the Congress of the United States:

    In response to the ongoing use of excessive military force in Kosovo 
by the police and armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 
(Serbia and Montenegro) and the Republic of Serbia, which has 
exacerbated ethnic conflict and human suffering and threatens to 
destabilize other countries in the region, the United States, acting in 
concert with the European Union, has decided to impose certain economic 
sanctions. Consistent with decisions taken at the meetings of the 
Contact Group of countries, consisting of the United States, the United 
Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, in Birmingham, England, on 
May 16, 1998, and in Rome on April 29, 1998, the United States will 
impose a freeze on the assets of the Governments of the Federal Republic 
of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), the Republic of Serbia, and the 
Republic of Montenegro, and a ban on new investment in the Republic of 
Serbia. It is our intent to exempt the Government of Montenegro from 
these sanctions wherever possible.
    The Contact Group originally agreed in Rome on April 29 to impose 
these sanctions in response to the increasingly dangerous situation in 
Kosovo and Belgrade's failure to

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meet crucial requirements concerning the adoption of a framework for 
dialogue with the Kosovar Albanian leadership and a stabilization 
package, as set out in earlier Contact Group meetings in London on March 
9, 1998, and in Bonn on March 25, 1998. The G8 Foreign Ministers 
reaffirmed the need to impose sanctions at their meeting in London on 
May 8-9, 1998. The Russian Federation did not associate itself with 
these sanction measures.
    At the May 16 meeting in Birmingham, England, the Contact Group 
welcomed the establishment of a dialogue between Belgrade and the 
Kosovar Albanian leadership. With the start of this dialogue, those 
Contact Group countries that had previously agreed to implement economic 
measures against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
Montenegro) and the Republic of Serbia agreed that the proposed measure 
to stop new investment in the Republic of Serbia would not be put into 
effect and that they would review at their next meeting the 
implementation of the freeze on funds. However, the use of 
indiscriminate force by the police and armed forces of the Federal 
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the Republic of 
Serbia has undermined the basis for dialogue.
    The Contact Group has concluded that the current situation in Kosovo 
is untenable and the risk of an escalating conflict requires immediate 
action. It has also found that, if unresolved, the conflict threatens to 
spill over to other parts of the region. The United States attaches high 
priority to supporting the security interests of the neighboring states 
and to ensuring security of borders. It is also of particular importance 
that developments in Kosovo should not disrupt progress in implementing 
the Dayton peace agreement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This threat to the 
peace of the region constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to 
the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
    On June 9, 1998, by the authority vested in me as President by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 
the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 
of title 3 of the United States Code, I declared a national emergency to 
respond to the unacceptable actions and policies of the Belgrade 
authorities and issued an Executive order to implement the measures 
called for by the Contact Group. That order freezes the assets of the 
Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
Montenegro), the Republic of Serbia, and the Republic of Montenegro that 
are under U.S. jurisdiction and, in concert with the other Contact Group 
countries, restricts access of those governments to the international 
financial system. That order also prohibits new investment by United 
States persons, or their facilitation of other persons' new investment, 
in the Republic of Serbia. It is our intent to exempt the Government of 
the Republic of Montenegro, by means of licenses, from the prohibitions 
contained in the order wherever possible. That government has been 
included in the order to ensure effective implementation of sanctions 
against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), of 
which the Republic of Montenegro is a constituent part.
    The order carries out these measures by:
--          blocking all property, and interests in property, of the 
            Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia 
            and Montenegro), the Republic of Serbia, and the Republic of 
            Montenegro, including the prohibition of financial 
            transactions with, including trade financing for, those 
            governments; and
--          prohibiting new investment by United States persons, or 
            their facilitation of other persons' new investment, in the 
            territory of the Republic of Serbia.
    The order provides that the Secretary of the Treasury, in 
consultation with the Secretary of State, is authorized to take such 
actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, as may be 
necessary to carry out the purposes of the order. Thus, in the event of 
improvements in the actions and policies of Belgrade with respect to the 
situation in Kosovo, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with 
the Secretary of State, would have the ability, through the issuance of 
general or specific licenses, to authorize any or all transactions 
otherwise prohibited

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by the order. Also, in implementing the sanctions, we intend to license 
transactions necessary to conduct the official business of the United 
States Government and the United Nations. We further intend to issue 
licenses to allow humanitarian, diplomatic, and journalistic activities 
to continue.
    The declaration of a national emergency made under Executive Order 
12808, and expanded in Executive Orders 12810 and 12831, remains in 
effect and is not affected by the June 9, 1998, order.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
June 10, 1998.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
June 11.