    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 17 (Monday, May 3, 1999)]
    [Pages 709-710]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at the Opening Session of the North Atlantic Council Meeting on
    Kosovo

    April 23, 1999

        Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General. Mr. Secretary General,
    fellow leaders, let me begin by welcoming you warmly to the United
    States. We are honored to host this 50th Anniversary Summit of NATO. We
    meet to honor NATO's past, to chart its future, to reaffirm our mission
    in Kosovo, where NATO is defending our values and our vision of a Europe
    free, undivided, and at peace.
        Today we send a clear message of unity and determination: to sustain
    our air campaign for as long as it takes; to stand firm in our
    conditions for ending it; to pursue diplomatic initiatives to meet those
    conditions; to increase political and economic pressure against the
    regime in Belgrade; to stand by

    [[Page 710]]

    the frontline nations threatened by Belgrade's actions; and to work with
    them for stability, democracy, and prosperity in Southeastern Europe, so
    that when Mr. Milosevic's vision for the future is defeated, a better
    one can rise in its place.
        We will seek to do this together with our European partners, and
    with Ukraine and with Russia. We will make clear what is at stake. Mr.
    Milosevic's forces burn and loot homes and murder innocent people; our
    forces deliver food and shelter and hope to the displaced. Mr. Milosevic
    fans the flames of anger between nations and peoples; we are an alliance
    of 19 nations, uniting 780 million people of many faiths and ethnic,
    racial, and religious backgrounds. Mr. Milosevic knows only one way to
    achieve his aims, through force; we have done everything we could to
    resolve this matter peacefully.
        But when we fight we fight to prevail--to prevail in this conflict
    and to build the undivided, democratic Europe that the founders of NATO
    envisioned 50 years ago.
        Thank you, and welcome again.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:20 a.m. in the pavilion at the Ronald
    Reagan International Trade Center. In his remarks, he referred to
    Secretary General Javier Solana of the North Atlantic Treaty
    Organization; and President Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic
    of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). The transcript made available by
    the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Secretary
    General Solana.