    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 17 (Monday, May 3, 1999)]
    [Pages 733-734]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at the Opening of North Atlantic Council Meeting With the
    Frontline States

    April 25, 1999

        Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General. We want to welcome the
    leaders of all the frontline states here and say that we are very
    grateful for what you have done. The people of Albania and Macedonia
    have welcomed almost half a million refugees to their

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    countries, often, literally, into their homes. You have shared what you
    have, though the strains are immense. NATO is working to relieve your
    burden with the United Nations by building camps, providing supplies,
    helping to bring more refugees to other countries until they can return
    to Kosovo. We must do more, intensifying our relief operations, taking
    our share of refugees.
        The nations of the region have risked and even faced armed
    confrontation with Serbia, by facilitating and supporting our campaign
    to end the bloodshed in Kosovo. Yesterday--or Friday, NATO made its
    position very clear. We said, unambiguously, if Belgrade challenges its
    neighbors as a result of the presence of NATO, we will respond.
        The nations of the region have faced enormous economic dislocation
    and losses. We are committed to working with you and with multilateral
    institutions to ease your emergency needs and help you with your debts.
    You want a better future for your nations and your region, and there, as
    well, we are committed to help.
        Many of us have tried to lay out a vision for the region, a positive
    alternative to the violence and ethnic hatred, a vision of people and
    nations working together, bridging old divides, forging a common future
    of peace, freedom, and prosperity. How do we get there?
        First of all, we must prevail in Kosovo. A just end to the conflict
    is essential to putting the entire region on the path to stability.
    Second, we must strengthen our efforts to support economic development
    and deeper democracy, ethnic and religious tolerance, and regional
    integration in southeastern Europe. We must build on the many positive
    ways in which the nations of the region, often with our support, already
    are bringing change at home, in cooperation across borders.
        In that regard, I want to especially commend Slovenia's strong
    efforts in recent years to reach out to its neighbors. We will work
    toward the day when all the people of the region, including the Serbs
    now suffering under reckless tyranny, enjoy freedom and live together.
        This will require a commitment by nations of the region to continue
    political and economic reforms. And I particularly respect the efforts
    of Bulgaria and Romania in this regard, to stick with their programs
    under very difficult circumstances. It will require that we sustain our
    engagement. I welcome the suggestion of the German-EU Presidency to hold
    a conference in Bonn next month to advance these common efforts. I hope
    our finance ministers, when they meet here next week with international
    financial institutions, will explore imaginative and aggressive ways for
    us to help.
        Finally, we must continue to strengthen the security bonds between
    your countries and NATO. Five of the nations here are NATO partners.
    Yesterday NATO and its partners agreed to deepen our security
    engagement. We will continue to work with Bosnia and Croatia on
    implementation of the Dayton accords, looking toward eventual
    partnership. And yesterday NATO adopted a robust membership action plan
    to help aspiring nations strengthen their candidacy so they can enter
    NATO. New members will bolster our Alliance and Europe's security.
        In all the countries present here today, leaders and citizens are
    working to realize a vision just the opposite of Mr. Milosevic's,
    reaching across the divides to pursue shared dreams of a better life.
    All of them are on the right road, and we must travel it with them to
    ensure that they succeed.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:14 a.m. at the Mellon Auditorium. 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.