    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 17 (Monday, May 3, 1999)]
    [Pages 759-761]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Following a Meeting With a Congressional Delegation and an
    Exchange With Reporters

    April 28, 1999

    Situation in the Balkans

        The President. Good afternoon. I just had a good meeting with a
    large bipartisan delegation from both Houses of Congress on Kosovo. It
    was our fourth meeting since the airstrikes began. We spoke about the
    NATO Summit, its unity and determination to achieve our objectives in
    Kosovo; about the progress of our military campaign and the
    intensification of economic sanctions; about the humanitarian challenge
    that we face and the work that we and our Allies are doing to meet it.
        Just on Monday, some 3,500 Kosovar refugees, in trains and buses,
    arrived in Montenegro. Yesterday about 5,000 entered Macedonia; almost
    3,000 arrived in Albania, exhausted, hungry, shaken, all by the violence
    and abuse they experienced on the way. At one point, 1.8 million ethnic
    Albanians lived in Kosovo. Nearly 1\1/2\ million have been displaced
    since the start of the crisis.
        Our humanitarian coordinator, Brian Atwood, who just returned from
    the region, has described an elderly Albanian woman he met in a camp
    outside Tirana. She saw all the male members of her family and most of
    the men in her village rounded up by Serbian authorities, tied up,
    doused with gasoline, and set on fire in front of their families.
        It's the kind of story that would be too horrible to believe if it
    were not so consistent with what so many other refugees have been
    saying. What we need to remember is that this is the result of a
    meticulously planned campaign, not an isolated incident of out-of-
    control rage, a campaign organized by the

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    Government of Belgrade for a specific political purpose, to maintain its
    grip over Kosovo by ridding the land of its people.
        This policy must be defeated, and it will be defeated. That was the
    clear message of the NATO Summit. Nineteen democratically elected NATO
    leaders came together to demonstrate their unity and determination to
    prevail. We agreed to intensify the air campaign, and that is what NATO
    is doing, both against military targets in Kosovo and against the
    infrastructure of political and military power in Belgrade.
        Our partners in southeastern Europe, the frontline states, who are
    risking so much and who have borne such a heavy burden, have followed
    through on their pledges of support. We are also providing more funds to
    the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and to NGO's to deliver food and
    supplies to the refugees. Our Defense Department has found a site for
    the facility it will build in Albania for up to 20,000 refugees. We hope
    it will begin taking in refugees in about 2 weeks.
        I spoke to Members of Congress about all these efforts today. I told
    them that now is the time to pass the supplemental funding for Kosovo
    that I requested 9 days ago. We need it to maintain our military
    readiness. Just as important, we need to sustain humanitarian relief and
    support for the frontline nations that have absorbed the brunt of this
    emergency.
        Let me stress that my request fully funds our military and
    humanitarian needs in Kosovo. Congress should resist the temptation to
    add unrelated expenditures, even important ones, which could delay the
    process, because that would undermine the very goals that this funding
    is intended to meet. We must get a Kosovo funding measure passed and to
    my desk now.
        We also talked about other legislative initiatives pending on Kosovo
    in the Congress. I stressed that the 19 NATO Allies are speaking with a
    single voice. America must continue to speak with a single voice as
    well. I told them we would welcome the support of the Congress so that
    Mr. Milosevic will have no doubt that we had the determination and the
    patience to persevere until we prevail.
        Each day our military campaign takes a toll on Serbia's machinery of
    repression. The Serbian leadership has failed to divide us and will not
    outlast us. The combined military might and moral determination of
    Europe and North America will endure.
        We know what the final outcome will be: The Serbian forces will
    leave Kosovo; an international security force will deploy to protect all
    the people there, Serbs as well as Albanians; and the refugees will
    return with security and self-government.
        Thank you.
        Q. Did you say you promised Congress you would ask permission----

    NATO Strategy/Serbian Occupation of Kosovo

        Q. [Inaudible]--how can you say the strategy is working when 40,000
    troops remain in Kosovo?
        Q. Mr. President, do you see any signs that Milosevic is losing his
    grip, sir? Any signs at all?
        The President. We have some indications that there are differences
    of opinion, obviously, developing in Belgrade, and we saw some of it
    public this week. There are some things that we know that I think I
    should not comment on. But the thing I want to tell the American people
    is, we know, objectively, what damage has been done. We know now we're
    going to be in a position to fly around the clock at lower altitudes
    from all directions in better weather.
        Historically, the weather is better in May than in April, better in
    June than in May, better in July than in June. And I feel very strongly
    that we should stay with and be very strong in determination to pursue
    our strategy, as well as the very important decisions we made at the
    NATO conference to intensify the economic pressure. And I believe that
    if we do these things, we will be successful.
        I am determined to do it. I believe our Allies are all determined to
    do it. I think when they left here they were more determined than when
    they came.
        As to the question the gentleman asked about the troops, keep in
    mind, the fact that they have mobilized more troops is an indication of
    the trouble they're having. If they had

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    no problems, they wouldn't need the troops. The initial state of play on
    the ground was they had 40,000 troops in and around Kosovo and nearly
    300 tanks. So we always knew that if they were willing to take the
    bombing in the beginning, they could do what they have done. Now, we
    have to stay with it to reverse that, and we can, and we will if we stay
    with it. I'm determined to do that.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:20 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Slobodan Milosevic of
    the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).